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/ 



PHYSICAL PROOFS 



OF 



ANOTHER LIFE, 



GIVEN IN 



Letters to the Seybert Commission; 



BY 



FRANCIS J. LIPPITT. 



And now I say unto you, Kef rain from these men, and let them alone; 
for if this counsel or this work be of men, it will come to nought; But 
if it be of God, ye cannot overthrow it; lest haply ye be found even to 
fight against God. Acts F.--38, 39. 

Celui qui, en dehors des mathematiques pures, prononce le mot 
impossible, manque de prudence. Arago: Annuaire 1853. 






WASHINGTON, D. C. : 

A. S. WITHERBEE & CO. PUBLISHERS, 

188B. 



$$&-* 

\-"\ 



Copyrighted by FRANCIS J. L1PPITT, 1888, 






LETTER I. 



YOUR REPORT REVIEWED. 



It is a crime to laugh and jest about thievery, and to impute it idly to 
others as if it were a light matter. — Echeg array in the new play of 
41 GcOeotto." 

Gentlemen of the Seybert Commission: 

Your report of the seance of Pierre L. O. A. Keeler 
(" Preliminary Report," pp. 22 to 24 and 82 to 87) shows 
on its face an entire willingness, not to say a predeter- 
mination on your part to convict him of fraud without 
the slightest regard to the facts observed. 

The trust you accepted was " to make a thorough and 
impartial investigation of all systems of morals, religion, 
and philosophy which assume to represent the truth, and 
particularly of i Modern Spiritualism.' " 

The acceptance of this trust imposed upon you a three- 
fold duty — a duty to the creator of the trust; a duty to 
the medium, upon whose honesty you were to publicly 
pronounce judgment; and last, but not least, to the sacred 
cause of truth. Thousands, here and abroad, were anx- 
iously awaiting your decision as to whether the so-called 
" spirit manifestations " are mere jugglers' tricks, or 
whether they afford certain and tangible proof of another 
life after the death of the body. And, considering that 
until now the world has had no such proof, but only a 
hope founded on argumentative reasoning- it is impossible 
to conceive of a more solemn and important inquiry, or 
of one demanding a more entire freedom from prejudice, 
or a more candid and faithful report of the facts observed. 

Your Report is far from satisfying these requirements. 

At the very outset there is a circumstance inviting com- 
ment. Three of your ten membeTs, Messrs. Leidy, 
Thompson, and Mitchell, were absent from the Keeler 

(3) 



stance (p. 82). Yet these gentlemen certify (p. 25) to the 
facts recorded in the minutes of all the seances, the Keeler 
one included, and express their concurrence in the conclu- 
sions based upon them. Now, how did they know but 
that, had they attended the Keeler seance, they would 
have disagreed with the other seven, both as to the 
facts witnessed and as to their conclusions from them ? 
The question to be settled was whether the manifestations 
were genuine or were the result of trick. In other words, 
Mr. Keeler was personally on trial, and the verdict was to 
be either Guilty or Not Guilty of fraud; and the three 
absentees join in a verdict of Guilty (pp. 23, 25, 26) with- 
out having witnessed a single one of the facts on which it 
was founded. In a trial at law for an offence of the most 
trifling nature, on its appearing that a single member of 
the jury had been absent when any portion of the evidence 
was given, a verdict of Guilty would instantly be set aside. 
If three absent members of your Commission could prop- 
erly base their decision on the statements and opinions of 
others who were present, there was no need of more than 
one or two attending the seances at all. Indeed, your re- 
port could have properly been made on what Professor 
Fullerton saw or thought alone. 

Before examining your Report in detail it will be neces- 
sary to clearly set forth the conditions under which the 
manifestations occurred. For this purpose I copy ver- 
batim from your Report the following description on pp, 
83, 84, including the two diagrams appended. The dia- 
grams are correct, except (as I shall submit hereafter) as 
to the location of the table in the first one. In this dia- 
gram, for greater distinctness, I have substituted for the 
letters (c) (d) (e) (showing the positions of the medium 
and of the two sitters on his right) the capital letters C, 
B, A; the letter A marking the position of the medium. 



" The seance was held in Mr. Furness's drawing-room^ 
and a space was curtained off by the medium in the north- 
east corner, thus: 




" The curtain is represented by a, b; c, d and e are three 
chairs placed in front of the curtain by the medium, in one 
of which (e) he afterwards sat; g denotes the position of 
Mrs. Keeler; /"is a small table placed within the curtain, 
and upon which were a tambourine, a guitar, two bells, 
a hammer, a metallic ring. The asterisks show the posi- 
tions of the spectators, who sat in a double row; the two 
marked (1) and (2) indicate the positions taken by Mrs. 
Kase and Colonel Kase, according to the directions of the 
medium. 

" The curtain, or rather curtains, were of black muslin, 
and arranged as follows: There was a plain black curtain, 
which was stretched across the corner, falling to the floor. 



6 



Its height, when inpositioii^ was 53 inches, 
thus: 



It was made 



- ■■ K * V 


Tnmrn 




! 

Hi -n 



" The cord which held the curtain was 1, 2, and the flaps 
which are represented as standing above it (<z, &, <?, etc.) 
fell down over a f , h', c', etc., and could be made to cover 
the shoulders of one sitting with his back against the 
curtain. A black curtain was also pinned against the wall,, 
in the space curtained off, partly covering it. Another 
curtain was added to the one pictured, as will be described 
later. 

" The medium then asked Colonel Kase to say a few words 
as to the necessity of observing the conditions, need of 
harmony, etc. And then the medium himself spoke a few 
words of similar import. He then drew the curtain 
(shown on the preceding page) along the cord (1, 2,) and 
fastened it; placed three wooden chairs in front of the 
curtain as indicated in the cut, and saying he needed to 
form a battery ; asked Miss Agnes Irwin to sit in chair 
(d), and Mr. Yost in chair (<?), the medium himself sitting- 
in chair (e). A black curtain was then passed by Mrs. 
Keeler over Mr. Keeler, Miss Irwin, and Mr. Yost, being 
fastened at g, between e and d, between d' and c, and be- 
yond a/ thus entirely covering the three sitting in front 
of the stretched curtain up to their necks; and when the 
flaps before mentioned were pulled down over their shoul- 
ders, nothing could be seen but the head of each. 



" Before this last curtain was fastened over them the 
medium placed both his hands upon the forearm and wrist 
of Miss Irwin, the sleeve being pulled up for the purpose, 
and Miss Irwin grasped with her right hand the left wrist 
of Mr. Yost; his right hand being in sight to the right of 
the curtain. 

"After some piano music, the medium said he felt no 
power from this " battery," and asked Mrs. E. D. Gillespie 
to take Miss Irwin's place. Hands and curtain were ar- 
ranged as before." 

In your Report (pp. 23, 24, 86, 87) you make two dis- 
tinct charges: 

1. That Keeler surreptitiously freed his right hand from 
contact with Mrs. Gillespie's arm; and 

2. That with his right arm thus freed he produced all 
the manifestions witnessel. 

Both these charges are mere reckless assertions, as I 
shall proceed to show. And first, as to Keeler freeing his 
right hand. 

Mrs. Gillespie was one of your own invited guests (p. 82) r 
and you adduce her statements in support of your asser- 
tions (p. 87). She is therefore your own witness. She 
was seated at B (see diagram), on Keeler 's right. You 
report (pp. 84, 85) that " Mrs. Gillespie said she felt taps,, 
but declared that, to the best of her knowledge, she still 
felt the medium's two hands on her arm." And after- 
wards, when "the tambourine was played in the curtained 
space and thrown over the curtain, bells were rung," and 
" the guitar thrummed a little," you state that " upon 
being asked again [she] said she thought she still felt 
two hands upon her arm." 

Upon this you attempt to discredit her testimony by 
suggesting that she may have been mistaken (p. 87). 

But when the same Mrs. Gillespie makes another state- 
ment, that would seem to favor the other side of the ques- 
tion, it did not occur to you to suggest that in this also 
she may have been mistaken. Instead of this, you use it 



8 

as a fact proved, and you lay special stress upon it. I 
quote the entire passage: 

It is especially worthy of note that Mrs. Gillespie declared that when 
the medium first laid hold of her arm with his right hand, before the 
curtain was put over them, it was with an under grip, and she felt his 
right arm under her left. But when the medium asked her if she felt 
both his hands upon her arm and she said yes, she could feel the grasp, 
but no arm under hers, though she moved her elbow around to find it. 
She felt a hand, but not an arm, and at no time during the stance did 
she find that arm. 

Of this statement there is no reason to doubt the entire 
truth. A moment's reflection will show that the " under 
grip " at the commencement might cause the sitter at B to 
feel not only the hand, but also the wrist, and even a little 
of the medium's arm; and that if the position of his 
hands should be so changed as to become an upper grip, 
the sitter would no longer feel the medium's arm. S"ow, 
why Keeler should change the position of his hand 
during these seances, usually lasting two hours or more, is 
easily explained. One reason is that it is in order to rest 
the muscles of his arm. I venture to assert that not one 
of you gentlemen would consent to sit under the condi- 
tions described for any considerable length of time, if de- 
barred the privilege of resting your arm held in a con- 
strained position by slightly changing it, though without 
relaxing its hold. 

There is still another reason for this change of position. 

The theory of skeptics, and your own, is (pp. 23, 87) 
that, should the medium, after a firm grasp of the sitter's 
forearm for a certain time, release it by quietly removing 
his. hand, the sitter might still continue to feel the pres- 
sure and thus suppose the hand to be still there, though the 
medium's arm is then free. Now, an honest medium would 
naturally desire to refute this theory in the only way pos- 
sible; which is by repeatedly relaxing and renewing the 
pressure, and occasionally shifting a little the position of 
his hand, but without removing it entirely. I can speak 
of this from my own personal experience, having often sat 
by Keeler at his seances, occupying the position of Mrs. 
Gillespie in the seance. 



Zeal in the detection of fraud is so praiseworthy that I 
liave no fault to find with your perceiving indications of 
It, even in such insignificant matters as a change of posi- 
tion of the medium's knee (p. 84), and the sitting of the 
medium and Mr. Yost without their coats (p. 87). 

On pages 86 and 87 you say: 

The only thing worthy of consideration, as opposed to a natural ex- 
planation of the phenomena, was the grasp of the medium's hands on 
Mrs. Gillespie's arm. 

The grasp was evidently a tight one above the wrist, for the arm was 
bruised for about four inches. There was no evidence of a similar 
pressure above that, as the marks on the arm extended in all about five 
or six inches only. The pressure was sufficient to destroy the sensibil- 
ity of the forearm, and it is doubtful whether Mrs. Gillespie with her 
Arm in such a condition could distinguish between the grasp of one 
hand, with a divided pressure (applied by the two last (sic) fingers and 
the thumb and index) and a double grip by the two hands. 

And here again, to suit your purpose, you reject the tes- 
timony of your own witness. But apart from this, the 
merest tyro in anatomy will inform you that " to destroy 
the sensibility of the forearm," the pressure must be made 
at the elbow, and not at the wrist. 

Your first charge, then, of a surreptitious withdrawal of 
the medium's right hand, so far from being supported by 
the evidence, is flatly contradicted by it. The charge is 
therefore a mere reckless assertion. 

This brings us to your second charge, that the manifes- 
tations were all within the reach of Keeler's right arm. 
You say (p. 86): 

It is interesting to note the space within which all the manifestations 
occurred. They were, without exception, where they would have been 
had they been produced by the medium's right arm. 

This assertion is grossly untrue, as I shall proceed to 
show. 

For the sake of clearness, 1 shall call the curtain of 
black cambric stretched across the corner of the room the 
screen, and that covering the persons of the medium and 
the two sitters in front of it, the curtain. 

There were manifestations in front of the screen, and 
manifestations in the triangular space behind it. Your 



10 

assertion is that these were all within reach of Keeler ? & 
right arm. And to make out your case of fraud you were- 
compelled to say " all," because, if, in a single instance, this 
were not so, there would exist an awkward fact, the only 
sufficient explanation of which might turn out to be the- 
" spirit " theory. 

If all the manifeftations witnessed were indeed within 
reach of Keeler's arm, the fact would undoubtedly be im- 
portant; not, however, as proving that Keeler produced 
them, but as justifying an inference that he might have 
produced them; which is obviously a very different thing. 
And here are your statements on this point: 

When the guitar was held up, and when the tambourine was made to 
whirl, both of these were to the right of the medium, chiefly behind 
Mrs. Gillespie; they were just where they might have been produced 
by the right arm of the medium, had it been free (p. 85). 

Nothing happened to the left of the medium, nor very far over to 
the right. The sphere of activity was between the medium and Mr. 
Yost, aDd most of the phenomena occurred, as for example, the whirl- 
ing of the tambourine, behind Mrs. Gillespie (p. 88). 

The three chairs which were placed in front of it were side by side r 
and it would not have been difficult for the medium to reach across and 
touch Mr. Yost (p. 86). 

It is self-evident that whether all the manifestations 
were or were not within reach of Keeler's arm depended 
upon two facts: 1, The length of his arm. 2, The dis- 
tance from him to the most distant point where any mani- 
festation occurred ; and that until these two elements were 
accurately ascertained there were no certain data for 
decision. To offer a conclusion of this sort based on mere 
guess or opinion is an insult both to science and to com- 
mon sense; and a committee honestly investigating would 
have been sure to make these facts certain by actual meas- 
urements, which they would have recorded in their report. 
But if, on the other hand, not truth, but support for a 
particular theory were what they were in quest of, and 
they had some doubt whether actual measurements would 
verify that theory, they would carefully avoid making 
them ; and in their report would confine themselves to mdefi- 



repor 



nite statements and mere assertions. 



11 

And this is ^precisely what you have done. Such vague- 
statements as " Nothing happened to the left of the medium,, 
nor very far over to the right " (p. 86) ; And " most of the 
phenomena occurred, as for example, the whirling of the 
tambourine, behind Mrs. Giilespie " (p. 86) ; and " when the- 
guitar was held up, and the tambourine was made to whirl,, 
both of these were to the right of the medium, chiefly 
behind Mrs. Gillespie," (p. 85) ; all these are non-committals 
on their face. The expressions I have italicised may alb 
be truthful statements, and yet entirely consistent withi 
the supposition that some of the manifestations were not 
within reach of the medium's arm. 

Nevertheless, I do find one point where a manifestation- 
occurred distinctly located, and which calls for special com- 
ment. On page 84 you state that " Mrs. Gillespie declared 
she felt a touch, and soon afterwards so did Mr. Yost." In the 
touch felt by Mrs. Gillespie there could be nothing decisive,, 
since she was seated at B, at the medium's side. But not' 
so as to Mr. Yost, who was at C ; because whether one seated - 
at that point was or was not within reach of Keeler's arm; 
could not be settled by mere guess, but only in one or two* 
ways: By measuring the length of Keeler's arm, and 
also Mr. Yost's distance from him: Or else by requiring 
Keeler to extend his arm horizontally to its full length, 
without moving his body, and then noting the exact location 
of his hand. Neither of these courses was adopted by your- 
Commission, who preferred to take for granted the correct- 
ness of their opinion without using the most obvious means • 
of verifying it. Your Report says (p. 86): u The three- 
chairs which were placed in front of it [the screen] were 
side by side, and it would not have been difficult for the- 
medium to reach accross and touch Mr. Yost." 

A mere assertion without proof. " Mr. Yost felt a* 
touch." But where? And what sort of a touch? 

During the last ten or eleven years that Mr. Keeler has 
been holding these seances in our principal cities and in.: 
various parts of the country they have been attended and* 
talked about by thousands of persons of all classes and 
conditions. And it is a notorious fact, of which it is hardly. 



12 

fsupposable all of you to have been ignorant, that at all 
these seances the person seated at C (Mr. Yost's position) 
has declared that he felt pattings and pressures (and occasion- 
ally pinchings), of human hands; sometimes on his head 
and neck, and sometimes on both his shoulders at once. 
Oertainly you were not bound to accept these statements as 
facts; but, under the circumstances, the public had a right 
to know from you the kind of "touch " felt by Mr. Yost; 
whether it was one that might have been made by the end 
•of a stick, or by the tip end of a finger, or was that of a 
human hand, or of two human hands. And further, they 
were entitled to know whether the " touch " was felt only 
on the left shoulder, the one nearest the medium, or on 
the right shoulder, the one furthest from him, because 
this point had a decisive bearing on the question whether 
the " touch " could possibly have been made by the medium 
Jiimself. 

Let three persons sit in three ordinary chairs side by 
: side, and it will be seen at once that the sitter on the left of 
tthe line (at A), unless gifted with a right arm of a most 
^abnormal length, cannot possibly touch the right shoulder 
<of the sitter on the right (at C) without such a decided 
ileaning over to the right as would be plainly visible to all. 
If you had perceived such a leaning over of the medium, 
it goes without saying that you would have mentioned it. 
Therefore (I repeat it) was the "touch" felt by Mr. Yost 
on his right shoulder? And what sort of a touch was it? 

You assert (p. 84) that the medium's body was " dis- 
tinctly inclined " toward Mr. Yost at the time. Here is 
another of your vague statements that may mean every- 
thing or nothing at all. It cannot refer to such a leaning 
over as to enable the medium to touch Mr. Yost's right 
shoulder; for in that case, as I have just observed, you 
would have mentioned it. Obviously, if both the me- 
dium's hands were grasping the arm of the sitter at B, 
this would naturally cause a slight facing of his body to 
that side; but this would have been no leaning over in 
that direction. Unless you preferred to leave this matter 
in the dark, why did it not occur to you to settle the ques- 



13 

tion on the fepot, by first learning from Mr. Yost the lo- 
cality of the "touch"; and afterwards, before the three- 
seats were vacated, inviting the medium to stretch out his 
arm to its full length? You would then have had other 
proof than a mere guess as to whether the manifestation 
was within the medium's reach or not. 

In regard to the manifestations in front, I shall cite one 
more instance of reckless assertion. 

I copy from page 85 of your Report: 

The guitar was then thrust out, at least the end of it was, at the 
bottom of the curtain, between Mrs. Gillespie and the medium. Mrs. 
Keeler drew away the curtain from over the toes of the medium's boots, 
to show where his feet were; the guitar was thrummed a little. Had 
the medium's right arm been free, the thrumming could have been 
done quite easily with one hand (p. 85). 

Bear in mind that the guitar, while being thrummed, 
was on the fioor, and that the medium and the two sitters 
were kept in an erect position by a curtain fastened round 
their necks, so that " nothing could be seen but the head 
of each " (p. 84). Now, in such a position (as anyone 
can verify for himself) the ends of the sitter's fingers, un- 
less he be a gorilla, will reach only to his knees; and he 
cannot possibly thrum a guitar on the floor without bring- 
ing the upper part of his body forward at an angle of about 
45 degrees. Apart from the impossibility of the medium's 
thus stooping over without breaking the fastening under 
his chin or being choked by it, it is most certain that, had 
there been the slightest stooping over of the medium while 
the guitar was being thrummed on the floor, you would 
have mentioned it in your Report, and have made the most 
of it. 

Next, as to the manifestations in the corner behind the 
screen, described on pages 85, 86 of your Report. 

On the little table behind the screen were a tambourine, 
a guitar, bells, &c. (p. 83). These manifestations were as 
follows: Playing of the tambourine, which was afterwards 
thrown over the curtain; ringing of the bells; thrumming 
of the guitar; thrusting of the guitar under the screen 
between Mrs. Gillespie and the medium; elevation of the- 



14 

.•.guitar above tlie screen; whirling of the tambourine on a 
; stick; drumming to piano music by two clothes-pins, 
.afterwards thrown over the screen; notes written on paper 
^that had been passed over the screen, which were then 
tthrown o^er it; appearance of an arm thrust through the 
sleeve of a coat that had been passed over the screen ; thrust- 
ing of a hand from under the flap, and writing by it on a 
tablet held by Mr. Furness, who was then allowed to grasp it. 

Let me observe in passing: Your remark that the hand 
that appeared was always a right hand has no bearing 
on the issue, for the hand producing these manifesta- 
tions would naturally be a right hand, whether be- 
longing to a physical or to a spiritual body (for the existence 
of which we have the authority of St. Paul). 

Your assertion is that all these manifestations may have 
been produced by Keeler's right hand, once freed from con- 
tact with Mrs. Gillespie's arm. As the tambourine and 
.other objects were lying on the little table, on which also 
the notes were written (p. 85), it is important to know 
"just where the table was; for, if it was beyond the reach 
<of Keeler's hand, the objects mentioned could not have 
been manipulated by him, nor could the writings have been 
made by him. Inasmuch as in all the seances of Keeler's 
T! have been attending for the last seven years the location 
of the table has been close up in the corner or else but a 
few inches from it, I did not understand, on examining 
your diagram, why its position had been changed at the 
seance in question. I accordingly wrote to Col. S. P. Kase 
(one of the three Spiritualists admitted to your seance; the 
others being your Committee and their fourteen friends), 
referring him to your diagram and merely asking him to 
estate as to its correctness in regard to the position of the 
'table. I received from him^the following answer: 



15 



I Certify as Follows: — 1. That the following diagram shows the 
real position of the table at the seance held by Mr. Keeler at Mr. 
Furness's own house on the 27th of May, 1885; being the same stance 
described in Seybert Commission Report, pages 82 to 87. 



Keeler. 




)Lady. 
^Gentleman,. 



2. That at this seance the distance from Keeler to the edge of the 
table was certainly 2 feet 6 inches. 

3. That [during] this seance Mr. Furness held an upright staff, sitting 
by it [the curtain], neither [did] Keeler move during the ringing of the 
"bells and playing on tambourine back of this curtain. 

4. At this seance ten or twelve pieces of paper on which messages 
had been written, evidently on the table, were thrown over the curtain 
to various persons comprising the Committee. 

5. That after the seance I requested that these messages should be 
read, but that the Committee declined to read them, saying they would 
publish them in their coming Report. 

6. I could not see that Keeler moved during the time these physical 
manifestations were taking place, and our friend Furness made no 
report of any movement of Keeler during the manifestations. 

Philadelphia, February 11, 1888. 

S. P. Kase, 
1601 North 15th Street. 



The hypothenuse of the triangle in your diagram is 85 
inches, (ftep. p. 83.) This would give about 60 inches 
for the leno-th of each of the two sides, (which I have veri- 
fled by actual measurement). On these data, supposing 
Col. Kase's diagram to indicate the real place of the table, 
-a simple trigonometrical calculation will show his state- 
ment as to its distance from Keeler to be correct; and its 
correctness I have verified by actual measurement. 

Personally, I am confident that the misplacement of the 
table in your diagram (if there be one) was owing to some 



16* 

oversight or mistake. But in order to support your theory 
that all the manifestations in the corner were within reach- 
of the medium's arm, it was so important that the table- 
should be near the curtain, you will not think it strange 
that uncharitably disposed persons should believe not only 
that there is a mistake in your diagram, but that the mis- 
take was intentional. 

And here, inasmuch as you did not choose to measure 
the length of Keeler's arm, I think I am justified in stat- 
ing it. I can certify that the following measurements are. 
accurate, having repeatedly made them myself : 

Length of right arm from arm-pit to elbow, 10 inches. 

From arm-pit to wrist, 20 inches. 

From wrist to tip of middle finger, 7 inches. 

Total length of arm to tip of middle finger, 27 inches. 

To handle the instruments and to make the writino-s on< 

o 

the table the whole hand would obviously be necessary. 
Therefore, when the edge of the table is at a greater dis- 
tance from Keeler than 20 inches, the manifestations be- 
hind the screen cannot be produced by Keeler's arm. Now, 
unless Col. Kase's statement is incorrect, and moreover, 
the position of the table at your seance was entirely differ- 
ent from its customary one, its distance from Keeler was- 
thirty inches. 

To make your Report of the slightest scientific value 
(for science ignores mere guesses), you should have your- 
selves taken and reported these measurements, though you 
could have arrived at the same result by causing the- 
meclium to stretch out his right arm without moving his 
body. Either one of these things was the obvious and 
proper thing to do. Why did you not do it ? Were you 
afraid that too much accuracy in details might spoil your 
theory? 

But the screen in front of which the medium was sitting 
extended all the way down to the floor (p. 83). How, 
then, there being no aperture in it, could he pass his arm 
behind him to reach the table? 

You answer this by assuming that the medium raises 
tlie screen from the floor and then passes his hand under it 



17 



to produce the manifestations in the corner. This is your 
statement : 

To have produced the phenomena by using his right hand, the 
medium would have to have passed it under the curtain at his back. 
This curtain was not quite hidden from the front one at the end near 
the medium, and this end both Mr. Sellers and Dr. Pepper saw rise at 
the beginning of the seance (p. 86). 

It is most unlikely (assuming your supposition of trick 
to be correct) that the trickster would he so careless in full 
view of twenty-one pairs of Argus eyes watching his every 
movement, as to permit his raising of the screen to be 
seen. " But supposing the gentlemen not to be mistaken 
as to what they saw, the fact is immaterial. The first 
person to sit at B was Miss Irwin; and after a certain 
time, no manifestations having occurred, Miss Irwin was 
released and the curtain was removed, leaving the screen 
in full view. Mrs. Gillespie then took Miss Irwin's place 
.and the curtain was replaced (p. 84). Now it was not till 
after this that any manifestations occurred. Had the 
screen been seen raised after the change had taken place 
(which is not pretended), the fact might have had some 
significance; but seen only "at the beginning of the 
stance," when no manifestations followed, it has none ; 
the alleged raising of the screen having no connection with 
the manifestations whatever, 

As to the drumming (not surpassed, though you do not 
mention it, by that of the most skilled expert in the art), 
I quote your account of it on page 85: 

Two clothes-pins were then passed over the curtain, and they were 
used in drumming to piano music. They could easily be used in drum- 
ming by one hand alone, the fingers being thrust into them. 

The pins were afterwards thrown out over the curtain. Mr. Sellers 
picked one up as soon as it fell and found it warm in the split, as though 
it had been worn. The drumming was probably upon the tambourine. 

Your attempted explanation of the drumming is another 
instance of reckless assertion. No professional drummer 
can be made to believe that the long roll (invariably given 
at these seances) can be executed by one hand. But I 
need not dwell upon this; because no finger of any full 



18 

grown man's hand can be thrust through the split of an 
ordinary clothes-pin, and kept in it while being used as a 
drumstick; and more especially the fingers of Mr. Keeler's 
hand, which are unusually broad and thick, as shown by 
your own description on page 83. You could yourselves 
have verified this on the spot. In this instance, also, you 
chose to take for granted what would best tally with your 
theory, regardless of what the real fact might be. 

I shall terminate this review of your E-eport of the 
Keeler seance by showing that it is open to the charge of 
a deliberate suppression of evidence. 

The fact is notorious that these " Light Seances" of Mr. 
Keeler consist of two distinct parts: first, the physical 
manifestations already described; and secondly, after some 
characteristic writings by "G-eorge Christy," written mes- 
sages to members of the circle, differing from each other 
as widely as possible in the handwriting, the turn of 
thought, and literary execution. And it is a fact equally 
notorious that the contents of these writings and their sig- 
natures are often such as to make converts to the extra- 
mundane theory of these phenomena of those whom the 
physical manifestations had failed to convince. 

Here is your statement in regard to these written mes- 
sages: I copy from page 85. 

Paper was passed over the curtain into the cabinet and notes were 
soon thrown out. The notes could have been written upon the small 
table within the enclosure by the right hand of the medium, had it 
been free. 

And this is all you have to say on the subject of the 
writings, that " notes were thrown out." ISTow there are 
certain particulars as to which the public had a right to be 
informed, as for instance, how many of these notes there 
were; to whom they were addressed; whether they were 
in different handwritings, or all in the same handwriting; 
by what names they were signed; what they contained; 
whether there was anything in the handwriting, the signa- 
ture, or the contents of a single one of the in indicating 
that it came from some person no longer in the fiesh, or at 



19 



&11 events, that it could not have emanated from the 
medium. 

Colonel Kase states (see ante) that ten or twelve of these 
written messages were thrown over the screen " to various 
persons composing the Committee " ; and that, at the close 
■of the seance, he requested that these messages should be 
read; but that the Committee declined to read them, say- 
ing " they would publish them in their coming Beport." 
And in another letter I have from him he states that " the 
Committee were scanning the contents of these messages." 

In excluding from your Report all particulars whatever 
relating to these writings you have been guilty of a deli- 
berate suppression of material evidence; material, be- 
cause had these particulars been given, they would have 
either tended to prove your assertion that the "notes" 
were written by the medium, or at least, might have been 
written by him — in either of which two cases you certainly 
would not have suppressed them — or else they would have 
tended to show that they had emanated, not from the 
medium, but from some extramundane source. 

It is a well established principle of public law, recognized 
by all civilized nations, aud based on universal experience, 
that whenever there has been a spoliation or a suppression 
of documents, it is to be assumed that, if produced, they 
would have been found to contain something the party did 
not desire to be known. The language of the maxim is 
" All things are to be presumed against the party guilty of 
the suppression." Omnia jpraesumuntuT in odium sjpo- 
liatoris. "No words are needed to show the applicability of 
this maxim to the present case. 

To sum up: 

You report, substantially (pp. 25, 26, 27), that the man- 
ifestations at the Keeler seance were produced by fraud; 
and you base this conclusion on two propositions: 

First. That Keeler " might have" surreptitiously got his 
right arm free. 

But the evidence reported, so far from proving this 
proposition, goes to prove the exact contrary. 



20 

Secondly. That once the medium's right arm disengaged,, 
every one of the manifestations " might have" been pro- 
duced by himself. 

This proposition, also, is flatly contradicted by the 
evidence. 

Thus your charge of fraud is merely a reckless assertion,, 
without a particle of evidence to sustain it. 

For your condemnation on mere suspicion I have found, 
indeed, one precedent; but it occurred two hundred years 
ago. In the " Compendium of Ancient Blue Laws," pub- 
lished in the " Massachusetts Magazine " of February, 
1791, I find this record: 

Thomas Petit, for suspicion of slander, idleness and stubbornness, ia 
censured to be severely whipped, and to be kept in hold. 

There is an old story (I do not vouch for its authenti- 
city), how that, about the year 1602, a new theory known 
as the " Copernican System ' r had been for some time 
talked about and even believed in by many persons, some 
of whom were distinguished for their ability and learning. 
How that, this theory being opposed to all the doctrines 
of the Church on the one hand and of Philosophy on the 
other, the most severe measures had been adopted to put 
the new heresy down. How that, with this view, it had 
been found necessary by the Church, two years before, to- 
bum one of its supporters, named Bruno, at the stake. 
How that, about this time, a wealthy old physician who 
had been one of the deluded ones died, after making a gift 
of 60,000 scudi to the University of Padua to found a 
chair of Philosophy, on condition " that the incumbent of 
the chair should, either individually or in conjunction with 
a Commission of the University Faculty, make a thorough 
and impartial investigation of all systems of morals, re- 
ligion and philosophy which assume to represent the truth 
and particularly the Copernican System;" and how that 
the University accepted the gift with its accompanying 
trust. How the philosophers scouted the idea of an in- 
vestigation of such self-evident absurdities; among them 
one Faradeo, who laid it down as a maxim that " before 



21 

^entering on smj investigation of alleged facts, it is neces- 
sary first t^ decide wh'U is possible and what is impos- 
sible." How that one Galileo had invented an instrument 
called a telescope, by looking through which he pretended 
to have found proofs of the truth of the Copernican theory, 
-one of which was that the star Jupiter had four moons re- 
volving round it. How that, in execution of the trust 
that accompanied the gift of 60,000 scudi, a commission 
•of ten members -a#e- appointed by the University to wait ^~"* ^ 
mpon Galileo and request of him a view through his tele- 
scope of Jupiter's alleged moons; and how that Galileo 
acceded to their request. How that the Commission made 
and published their report, to the effect that they had, in- 
deed, seen what appeared to be small stars in the neighbor- 
hood of Jupiter; but that these appearances might have 
been caused by specks of phosphorus secretly dropped on 
the object glass of the telescope by Galileo himself ; and 
^concluding, therefore, that the Copernican System was a 
mere delusion. And how that the whole matter resulted 
in great satisfaction to all parties concerned: to the 
University, which had secured the gift of 60,000 scudi; 
to the Church and to the philosophers, because a pestilent 
heresy both in theology and in philosophy had been ex- 
tinguished ; and finally, to the members of the Commission 
themselves, who, it was rumored, had been half afraid 
there might be some truth in the new discoveries, and were 
only too glad to escape so easily from mixing themselves 
up with a heresy so unpopular, and so dangerous to one's 
.standing in the Church, and with the philosophers. 
Bespactfully yours, 

Feancis J. LlPPITT. 



LETTER II. 

SHOWING WHAT FURTHER INVESTIGATION WOULD HAVE DEMON- 
STRATED. 

Spiritualism is a question, in the first place, of evidence; it then follows 
to explain, so far as we can, such facts as have been established. — W. E^ 
Gladstone. 

The most trifling physical manifestations are of overwhelming im- 
portance, since they prove the existence of human beings in another 
state. — Baron Eellenbaclt's " Geburt und Tod als Wechsel der Anschaw- 
ungsform.'''' 

Gentlemen of the Seybert Commission: 

The result of your investigation of the phenomena oc- 
curring through Keeler was merely your gratuitous assump- 
tion that all the manifestations witnessed might have been- 
produced by the medium himself. But your duty did not 
end there. The question before your Commission was not 
how the so-called spirit phenomena may be, but how they 
are produced. The trust you accepted was to make a, 
" thorough " as well as an impartial investigation of Modern 
Spiritualism. Your belief that the manifestations wit- 
nessed at that one seance of Keeler r s might have been 
produced by the medium, even had it been well founded, 
did not satisfy this requirement, or dispense with all further 
investigation. Any equity lawyer will tell you that such 
an execution of such a trust annexed to a gift would be 
held to be what is technically termed " illusory " ; entitling 
the heirs of the donor to recover it back. It is true, you 
call your Report a " preliminary n one; but let me observe 
that it is virtually a final one. For you cannot expect to 
obtain any more seances from mediums, public or private,, 
who all now believe that however honest they may be, and 
however palpably genuine the manifestations occurring- 
through them, no fair report of them can be expected at 
your hands. 

But by what authority have you published a " prelimi- 
nary" report? The pecuniary gift imposed upon you the 



23 

duty of a " thorough " investigation; and certainly no- 
report could have been contemplated of an investigation 
just begun, and therefore imperfect, and so, unreliable and 
probably misleading. Your duty plainly was to follow it 
up to some positive result. Such a result you would have 
obtained even at the one seance of Keeler's that you report, 
had you chosen to adopt such mode of inquiry as common 
fairness and common sense dictated ; and any one who shall 
read my foregoing letter to you and the statement I am 
about to present will be justified in asserting that one 
seance more with Keeler ought to have sufficed to settle 
definitively the question whether the phenomena occurring 
through him, at least, are of mundane or of extramundane 
origin. 

In order to show what would have been, nay, what must 
have been the result of such further investigation, I now 
propose to give as brief an account as possible of some of 
the many manifestations I have myself witnessed at Keeler'& 
"Light" seances during the last seven years; selecting 
from those only that cannot possibly be accounted for, so 
far as I can see, on the supposition of trick. 

It would be in the highest degree presumptuous in me 
to suppose that my individual testimony as to facts of so 
extraordinary a character, taken by itself, should have any 
but the slightest possible weight with skeptics. Neverthe- 
less, I have decided not to withhold it; remembering that 
it is only by a consensus of many individual testimonies 
similar to my own that such facts can be established at all. 

Obviously, if the manifestations were produced by Keeler's 
right arm, it is the two persons seated at B and C that 
would have the best opportunity of discovering the fact. 
Sometimes he invites any two of the sitters present who 
may be so disposed to occupy those two seats: at other 
times, at the beginning of the seance, he himself selects 
these two persons from the sitters present; and it is while 
these two persons are seated by him that most of the 
physical manifestations occur. Now, it is a fact of some 
significance that, instead of choosing them from among 
the frequenters of his seances and known believers in the 



24 

genuineness of the manifestations, he almost invariably 
invites in preference strangers and skeptics to occupy these 
two seats. Is it likely that a trickster would do this? 
Moreover, he invariably requests the sitter at B to imme- 
diately notify the circle if at any time he should relax the 
grasp of either hand, or should perceive any agency on his 
part in causing the manifestations. 

Now, all this certainly raises a presumption of some 
weight of honesty and good faith on Keeler's part; and it 
is only just that this presumption should be borne in mind 
in judging as to the genuineness of what follows. 

Again, it is certainly a fact of some weight that in all 
these " light " seances I have attended of Keeler's (a hun- 
dred, I suppose, or more), there has not been a single in- 
stance where the sitter at B, whether believer or skeptic, 
has expressed the slightest doubt that during all the mani- 
festations, both of Keeler's hands were distinctly and con- 
tinuously felt on the sitter's arm. As for myself, I have 
often sat at these seances on Keeler's right at B, and I can 
positively state that I have never known him to remove 
either of his hands from my arm but once. As the ex- 
perience was a curious one, I will relate it : 

It was at the seance of March 22, 1886- When I had 
taken my seat Keeler grasped my arm at the elbow with 
his right hand and my wrist with his left, according to his 
invariable custom. The usual manifestations had been 
going on for some time, when suddenly Keeler withdrew 
his left hand from my wrist, enclaiming: "My hands are 
cramped!" I said at once, in a loud voice: "It is due 
to the circle that I should state " I was here inter- 
rupted by being violently shaken by a pair of strong hands 
on my shoulders. Twice I repeated these words, and each 
time I was prevented from finishing by being violently 
shaken again. On my fourth attempt to make my an- 
nouncement, two large hands, visible to all, were thrust 
through the curtain and held over my mouth. On their 
being withdrawn I completed my announcement of the 
momentary withdrawal of the medium's hand, and in- 
stantly the hands patted me in the most friendly manner 



25 

on the back of my neck. I must not omit to state that 
during the few seconds that Keeler's hand was detached 
from my arm, no manifestation whatever occurred. The 
incident tested my own honesty and also indicated an ap- 
proval of it, and was perhaps brought about by the invis- 
ible operator for that very purpose. 

As to the supposed freeing of the medium's hand from 
the sitter's arm: 

You will admit that this would be impossible if each of 
Ivis hands were held by a person on either side of him. 
Now, at a seance of Keeler's in 1881 (I have lost or mis- 
llaid my memorandum showing the exact date), at my 
request, he took his seat at B, between myself and another 
isitter; I at C, on his right, and the other sitter at A, on 
-his left; and during the whole time the usual manifesta- 
tions were occurring, I was firmly grasping his right 
(hand and the other sitter his left. And again, on January 
18, 1888,, Keeler sat in the same position, between Mr. 
Hobert A. Whitehand at C, on his right, and myself at A, 
on his left. The following certificates show what then 
'Occurred : 

I certify that in the evening of January 18, 1888, I attended a 
seance of Mr. P. L. <Q. A. Keeler at his lodgings, No. 416 Twelfth 
Street, n. w. in this city; that, during the seance, by direction ol 
the controlling intelligence (supposed to be George Christy, of 
the " Christy's Minstrels" ) Mr. Keeler took a seat in front of a 
curtain drawn across a corner of the room between Mr. Eobert A. 
"Whitehand seated on his right, and myself, seated on his left, a 
black muslin sheet covering our persons, but leaving our heads ex- 
posed ; that wkfle I was iirmJy grasping Mr. Keeler's left arm -with 
my right hand and his left wrist with my left band, certain man- 
ifestations occurred, chiefly as follows : 

1. A tambourine behind the curtain was shaken and thumped 
.against each of us, keeping time with the piano. 

2. A human hand repeatedly showed itself over the curtain, 
^directly over Mr. Keeler's head and patting it. 

3. A guitar was brought from behind the curtain, thrust between 
Mr. Keeler and myself, and placed and thrummed on in my lap, and 
afterwards withdrawn behind the curtain again. 

4. Mr. Charles O. Picrson handed over the curtain to a hand 
which (he said) he saw and felt, two halves of a common clothes- 
pin that had been split in two. A drumming was then heard from 
behind the curtain which lasted several minutes, keeping perfect 
time with the piano. 

5. I repeatedly felt a large hand, coming evidently ftfom behind 
the curtain, pressing and pulling my right wrist and hand. 

6. A slip of paper was handed over the curtain to Mr. Picrson, on 
which was written " Damn the Seybert Commission." 



26 

I certify most positively that during these manifestations I 
never relaxed my hold of Mr. Keeler's arm for a single instant. 

FRANCIS J. UPPITT. 
182 7 Jefferson Place. 
Washington, January 19, 1888. 

I have read the above statement of Gen. F. J. Lippitt, and testify 
toiits truth in 'every particular ; except as to his continuous grasp of 
the medium's arm, and his feeling of a hand touching his own under- 
the covering ; as to which, of course, I cannot testify of my own per- 
sonal knowledge. But I *ean state positively that daring every mo- 
ment of the time the manifestations were occurring, Mr. Keeler's 
right hand was firmly grasped by my left. 

R. A. WKITEHAND, 

804 D St., n. w. 

Washington, Jan. 19, 1888. 

I certify that I was present at the seance mentioned in Gen. Lip- 
pitt's statement, which I have read and certify to be true in every 
particular, except as to the continuous grasp by the two sitters of Mr. 
Keeler's hands mider the covering in front, and Gen. Lippitt's feel- 
ing of a hand touching his own ; of which I cannot, of course, speak 
from my own personal knowledge. It is true, as stated, that I both 
saw and felt the hand that received from me the two halves of a 
clothes-pin. 

CHAS. O. PIERSON, 
Office Secy, of War. 

Washington, Jan. 19, 1888. 




Fac-simile of the writing referred to in the foregoing certificates. 

I have not kept back G. C's. profane expression of dis- 
approbation, because the ethics of scientific inquiry im- 
peratively forbid the suppression of any fact whatever 
connected with the subject of the inquiry. It is natural 
to suppose that great physical energy would be the chief 
characteristic^ of the agents employed by the spirit world 
in producing and conducting physical manifestations, and 
such energy is not always accompanied by a calm temper 



27 

or much refinement of language. But considering G. C. 
as engaged in the noble and unselfish work of convincing- 
mankind that there is really no death, may we not hope that 
the recording angel has dropped a tear on the objectionable 
word ? 

The truth of the facts testified to in these certificates 
once admitted, it is demonstrated that the manifestations 
that then occurred were produced by some other agency 
than Keeler's arm. But as you may hesitate to give cre- 
dence to the above testimony, I shall proceed to fortify this 
conclusion by selecting from my diary a number of other 
facts that I carefully noted down immediately after the 
respective seances at which they occurred ; and I shall sub- 
mit that in not a single one of these cases was it physically 
possible for the manifestations to have been produced by 
Keeler's arm, supposing it to have been free. 

Nothing is more common than his being suddenly di- 
vested of his coat while seated in front of the screen. The* 
fact is known only by its being passed over the top of the- 
screen by a human hand. 

The sitter at B, often a stranger, and sometimes a skeptic, 
declares in every instance that the medium's double grasp- 
had not been released for a single moment. Not the slight- 
est movement of the medium had been visible to those 
seated with him or a few feet in front of him. The coat, 
on being examined, discloses no contrivance in its make to- 
enable this to be done by trick; and on the curtain being 
removed the medium is seen to be coatless. Even should 
you suppose him to have got both his hands free, it is diffi- 
cult to conceive how such a manoeuvre could be executed 
without its being betrayed . by the medium's movements,, 
both to the sitter at B, and to the sitters in front. 

But sometimes it is the medium's vest that is stripped! 
from him and passed over the screen. 

Seance of February 14, 1887. A hand appeared over the- 
screen, beckoning to one of the sitters (Mr. Haddaway). 
On his approaching, it- handed over to him Keeler's cloth 
vest, buttoned up to the top, with his watch chain dangling" 
from one of its pockets. On the curtain being removed 



28 

T£eeler was seen seated with his coat on, but without a vest. 
JEEe had on both when he took his seat. The lady seated 
at B declared that he had not removed either of his hands 
from her arm for one moment; and no movement of the 
medium had been perceptible to those in front. 

Seance of February 25, 1887, at which Mr. Alfred Kus- 
sel Wallace was present. The manifestation just described 
was repeated under precisely the same conditions; as also 
afterwards at the seance of December 19, 1887; and again, 
at the seances of April 16, May 30, and June 11, 1888. 

Manifestations at B. 

The sitter at B feels not one hand only, but two hands 
?patting both shoulders, head or back. To the best of my 
recollection this is almost invariable. I have often sat at 
B, and it has never failed to be my experience. I have 
already referred to a curious instance of this experience of 
two hands at B. I shall now cite another: 

At the seance of June 17, 1887, the heat being oppressive, 
I had taken off my coat before seating myself at B. For 
some minutes I felt two hands tugging at my vest straps. 
Then suddenly there came a hand through the screen that 
unbuttoned my vest buttons under the curtain. Then 
came another tugging of the two hands at my vest straps. 
'.This ceased in a few moments, and I felt nothing more 
that was unusual during the rest of the seance. When it 
was over and the fastening of the curtain in front was 
undone, I stood up and was about to walk away, when I 
found to my surprise and the general amusement, that my 
. chair had risen with me, my vest straps having been tied 
in a knot on one of its rounds. 

At the seance of December 17, 1887, Mr. Jacob Mayer, 
a man of large and heavy frame, weighing, as he states, 
240 pounds, while seated at B, suddenly found his chair 
withdrawn from under him, compelling him to stand up, 
>while both Keeler's hands were grasping his arm. 

His statement is as follows: 



29 

I certify that I'was present at tlie " Light" or " Corner" seance held' 
"by P. L. O. A. Keeler, in this city, on the evening of January 18, 
1888 : that one 'of the writings then thrown over the curtain was the 
one which, at Gren. Lippitt's request, I have lent to him for publica- 
tion, and beginning " Darling Jakob/' and signed " Susannah;" that 
the name of my deceased wife was Susannah ; that she died about 
eight years ago ; and that I recognize the communication as being in 
her own handwrting, and in every respect characteristic of her. I 
further certify that I am positive that neither the medium nor any 
one connected with liim had ever known her or heard of her, or could 
have known her name. 

I further certify that, at Mr. Keeler's seance of December 19, 1887, 
while I was seated next to him in front of the curtain, a powerful 
forc^ drew my chair from under me, compelling me to stand up: and 
this while I was distinctly feeling my left arm firmly grasped by both 
of Mr. Keeler's hands, and that my weight is 240 nounds. 

THEODORE J. MAYER, 

214 B st., s. e. 

Washington, February 20, 1888. 



Manifestations at C and Beyond. 

We have seen that not one hand only, but two hands are' 
manifested at B. Let ns now pass to manifestations made 
at G and to the right of C. In order that we may know 
whether these are beyond the medium's reach, it must be 
borne in mind that, as shown by actual measurement (see 
ante), the length of Keeler's arm to his wrist is 20 inches,, 
and the length of his hand from the wrist to the tip end of 
the middle finger is 7 inches. Now, when he stretches 
out his right arm at full length, the tip of his middle 
finger scarcely touches the left shoulder of the sitter at C, 
as 1 have more than once ascertained by experiment; so 
that to place his entire hand on even that left shoulder, 
the medium would have to lean over very perceptibly to- 
his right. But, in point of fact, not one hand only, but 
two hands are usually felt by the sitter at C, and on both 
shoulders at once; and this has been my own invariable 
experience when I have occupied that seat. 

The hand that appears the most ©ften above the screen 
or thrust through under the flap ra front is the large and 
muscular one of u George Christy." But scarcely a seance 
takes place in which other and very different hands are 
not seen. As for instance,, at the seance of June 17, 1887.. 



30 

"I was seated at B, and Mr. Blackmar, another sitter, at G. 
A baby hand suddenly appeared directly over Mr. Black- 
mar's head. Afterwards a writing was handed over the 
screen signed " Mary Elizabeth." (Mr. Blackmar after- 
wards told me he had lost an infant daughter of that name, 
and that this fact was unknown to Keeler.) At the seance 
-of April 11, 1888, a delicate female hand with long, taper- 
ing fingers appeared over the screen and wrote a communi- 
cation on a tablet held for it by Mr. Darius Lyman; and 
.at the seance of May 7, 1888, a small hand appeared over 
the screen and handed a writing to one of the sitters (Mr. 
Hall), and immediately after another writing was handed 
over to him by the unmistakable hand of "George Christy." 
At one of the seances in the winter of 1886-7 (1 omitted 
to record its date), one of the sitters, an entire stranger, a 
man of about fifty years of age, of a large and robust build, 
-was indulging in jeering remarks, evidently believing the 
whole thing to be a fraud. He was more than once called 
to order by writings signed " G. C," but in vain. When 
the two sitters were changed after the physical manifesta- 
tions, he was permitted at his request to seat himself at 
C. Miscellaneous writings had now begun to be handed 
over the screen, but the man continued his offensive re- 
marks. A writing from " G. C." was handed over, civilly 
requesting him to desist, for the reason that "others had 
rights there as well as himself." His rude behavior con- 
tinuing-, first came a note from G. 0. suggesting that he 

O 1 Do O 

should "either keep silence or leave;" then another, in- 
timating that "he would be made to stop;" when, at last, 
he was suddenly thrown forward by a violent hlow planted 
squarely on the back of his neck; and but for the fastening 
of the curtain round his throat he would have fallen to the 
floor on his face. This argumentum ad liominem was 
apparently appreciated by the culprit, for not a word more 
did he speak through the evening. 

Small objects are often abstracted from the vest or coat 
pocket of the sitter at C without his knowledge; then re- 
appearing in another place. For instance, at the seance of 
June 17, 1887, I being seated at B, and Mr. Blackmar at 



31 

•C, I suddenly felt a pair of spectacles on my nose. Mr. 
Blackmar recognized them as his own. The case had been 
taken from his vest pocket, and the spectacles taken out 
from it and placed on my nose, all unbeknown to him. I 
said: "I can spare the spectacles," when they were in- 
stantly whisked off by two visible hands thrust through the 
the screen. At the end of the seance Mr. Blackmar found 
his spectacles again in his pocket and enclosed in their 
•case. 

Occasionally there is proof of the presence of a human 
hand beyond C. As at the seance of March 21, 1837, 
when (the seat at C being occupied by Dr. Julihn) a hand 
covered by the curtain projected itself at some distance 
from Dr. Julihn to his right. On the curtain being re- 
moved 1 measured the distance from Keeler's shoulder to 
the point where the hand had showed itself, and found it 
to be 48 inches; that is, 21 inches beyond the tip of the 
medium's middle finger when his arm is stretched out its 
full length. 

Sometimes the guitar (lying always at the beginning of 
the seance on the table in the corner) is thrust under the 
bottom of the screen to the right of the sitter at C, then 
placed in his lap and thrummed. One instance of this is 
thus stated by Mr.Haddaway : 

I certif}- that at a " corner seance " held by Mr. P. L. 0. A. Keeler, in 
this city, in the evening of Feb. 8, 1888, while I was seated close to the 
end of the curtain, on the medium's left, a large human hand was pro- 
jected from behind the curtain; that it was a right hand, and that I both 
saw and felt it. 

I further certify that on numerous occasions, in seances of like char- 
acter, when I have been present and sat close to the curtain, the guitar 
has been partially projected from behind the curtain at the end, <)r cor- 
ner, farthest removed from the medium. 

J. D. HADDAWAY, 

Washington, D. C. 507 12th St., K". W. 

At the seance of February 27, 1888, I saw the handle 
of the guitar over the screen projecting obliquely from the 
C end of the curtain toward C: the sitter at C stating that 
the body of the guitar was resting on his right shoulder; 
it being thrummed on at the same time. And ar the 
seance of February 24, 1888, I saw a hand directly over 



32 

the head of the sitter at C; the direction of the wrist 
showing that the body to which the hand belonged was 
standing on his right. 

To fully appreciate the conclusiveness of these facts, it 
must be borne in mind that the medium was all the time 
sitting erect and motionless at A, and that, so sitting, with 
arm stretched out, he could not possibly have done more 
than touch the left shoulder of the sitter at C. 

Manifestations to the Left of the Medium. 

I shall now mention some manifestations to the left of 
Keeler (In your Report, page 86, you lay stress on the fact 
that "nothing happened to the left of the medium"); first 
premising that the distance from Keeler 's ]eft shoulder at 
A to the end of the screen on his left is 21 inches, as I 
have ascertained by measurement. This end of the screen 
I shall call the A end. 

At a seance I attended in March, 1882, at a private house 
in Washington (Dr. McEwen's), I was called up to the 
curtain by George Christy. While 1 stood on Heeler's 
left close to the A end of the screen, my leg was suddenly- 
seized by a large and strong hand which pulled me en- 
tirely behind the screen, where I was kept for several 
minutes. Whenever I made a movement as if to escape I 
was powerfully held back by the same hand. 

At the seance of January 23, 1888, at my request G-. C. 
allowed me to go and stand at Keeler's left, close to the 
A end of the screen. My leg was again grasped by a large 
and powerful hand with such force as, I am convinced, 
would have effectually resisted any effort I could have 
made to escape. 

At the seance of February 8, 1888, I saw the hand 
emerge from the A end of the screen as described in Mr. 
Haddaway's certificate; and I witnessed the same mani- 
festation again at the seance of February 13. And again 
at the seance of February 20, I saw a written message 
handed out to Mr. Haddaway from behind the same end 
of the screen; and Mr. Haddaway informed me that he 



33 



both saw and felt the hand that delivered it to him. And 
at the seance of February 24, 1888, I went up and shook a 
hand that appeared at that same end of the screen; as did 
also ex-Postmaster-General Horatio King and others who 
were present. At the seance of March 7, the same hand 
appeared; first, at the same place, and afterwards repeatedly 
thrust under the flap at some three inches from the end, 
followed by what Mr. Chapman (who sat close by) stated 
to be a deformed hand. 

Finally, when the tambourine is whirled round on the 
end of a cane, it is in constant movement, always in a ver- 
tical position, between C and A, and sometimes beyond 
these points. 

During all these manifestations Keeler remains quietly 
seated at A, erect and motionless. 

Hands and Arms Seen that aee not Keeler's. 



Another conclusive fact is that it is not only the large 
hand of " George Christy" that shows itself. Hands much 
smaller and more delicate, some of them evidently female 
hands, are sometimes seen. I have already mentioned one 
or two instances of this; to which I will now add that at 
the seance of December 8, 1886, I was called up to the 
curtain, when a small and delicate hand patted my own; 
George Christy's large and brawny hand appearing imme- 
diately afterwards. I shall presently relate instances of 
the appearanc of three, and even of Hve human hands at 
once. 

There is sometimes other direct proof that the arm that 
appears over the screen, or thrust through it, is not Keeler's. 
And let me say in passing that the arm appears sometimes 
in a shirt sleeve, and sometimes entirely bare up to the 
elbow, even when Keeler is seatecl with his coat on. 

At the seance of February 14, 1887, I was called up to 
hold a tablet, while G. C.'s hand wrote upon it a few words. 
I was about to retire to my seat; but the hand grasped 
mine and pulled me forward with such force that I found 
myself looking over the screen. While my hand was being 



34 

held I saw directly behind Keeler the entire arm to 
which it belonged, bare to the shoulder. The arm was in 
a vertical position, as if its owner were lying there face 
upward; but there was no body visible; nothing but the 
arm itself. The arm was very long, large and brawny, as 
if belonging to a heavy built man of at least six feet. 
The screen was all the way down to the floor, and Keeler's 
arm was nowhere to be seen. 

Again, at the seance of February 25, 1887, at which 
Mr. Alfred Russel Wallace was present, I had precisely 
the same experience; but the arm was not so large as at 
the former seance. 

At the seance of April 2, 1886, I saw two arms at once 
thrust through from under the flap; one of them being 
entirely out of the medium's reach; about five feet, as I 
judged, to his right. They were both right hands, and 
were both writing on tablets at the same time in full view. 

At the seance of February 17, 1887, 1 saw three hands 
thrust through under the flap at the same time, thus: 

C .B . A. 

The two outer ones were right hands, and wrote simul- 
taneously on tablets held for them. I did not notice 
whether the interior one was a right or a left hand. 

I shall add two other conclusive facts under this head. 

First, when an arm is thrust through at any point under 
the flap, it is always at a right angle with the screen. And 
secondly, at the close of the seance of June 21, 1887, the 
medium and the two sitters retaining their seats on the 
curtain being removed, Keeler, at my request, stretched 
out his right arm its full length and then crooked his 
elbow, bringing his right forearm perpendicularly to the 
front. The crook of his elbow was seen to be over the left 
shoulder of the sitter at B. These two facts taken together 
demonstrate that, assuming Keeler's arm to be free, it 
would be physically impossible for him to write on a tab- 
let in front of the screen, except at a point near the left 
shoulder of the sitter at B. 



35 

Manifestations Behind the Screen. 

The manifestations I have been describing are those 
witnessed in front of the screen. Let ns now pass to those 
that occur behind it. 

The guitar, the tambourine, and the bells are pla ced on 
the small table in the corner, the dimensions of wh 1 ch are 
26 inches by 15. At the seance of November 21, 1887, 
I placed the little table close up in the corner, and then 
measured the shortest distance from Keeler's right shoulder 
to the near edge of the table, and found it to be 30 inches ; 
that is, 10 inches beyond the point where he could pos- 
sibly use his hand in writing or in manipulating the in- 
struments. Nevertheless, all the manifestations occurred 
as usual. 

Those that occur behind the screen are, ringing of the 
bells, which are afterwards thrown over the screen; play- 
ing of the tambourine in time with piano music, after 
which it is thrown over the screen; thrumming of the 
.guitar; drumming on the tambourine or the table with 
two clothes pins, but latterly with two halves of one split 
an two, which are afterwards thrown over; whirling of the 
tambourine on a cane; telegraphing (but only when some 
"telegraphic operator is present) by raps on the table, and 
more recently by means of a key fixed in it; passing of 
paper writings through the screen ; passing of other ob- 
jects back and forth through the screen; the writing of 
messages on tablet slips, sometimes thrown over, but more 
often passed over to one of the sitters present who plainly 
sees the hand from which he receives it; and finally, the 
thrusting through the screen of a large hand, usually that 
of " George Christy/' which writes with a pencil on a 
tablet held by one of the sitters. 

It is a fact worthy of mention that I have never known 
■an instance of any one of the circle being hit by one of the 
objects thrown over, even when they were hurled with 
great violence, and the room has been full of sitters to 
within a few feet of the curtain. 



36 

The guitar is seen elevated above the screen, its move- 
ments keeping time with the varying rhythmical changes 
of the piano music, threatening now Keeler, now the sitter 
at C, who is sometimes gently hit with it, while Keeler 
himself often receives blows from it, occasionally of great 
violence. 

The drumming is so skillful as to show the drummer to 
be a professional expert. Although in your Report (p. 85): 
you profess to believe that Keeler could execute it with one 
haud, you will hardly venture to assert this to be possible 
without considerable practice. As to this, let me state a 
fact directly in point. The seance of October 30, 1881, 
was held at my instance for a private circle of friends. 
Up to this time there had been no drumming among the 
manifestations, all of which some skeptical friends of 
mine supposed to be producible by one hand. It occurred 
to me that no one would seriously assert that drumming,, 
at least the drumming of the " long roll " was physically 
possible with one hand. I therefore bought a pair of drum- 
sticks (in which there was no split/ see Report, p. 85) and 
took them with me to the seance. Keeler at first objected 
to the experiment, fearing it would not succeed; but finally 
consented to it, and I placed the drumsticks on the table. 
The drumming was a perfect success, and, including 
the long roll, as well executed, to the best of my recollec- 
tion, as it now is after some seven years of practice. 

At the seance of December 12, 1887, were present at 
my invitation the leader of a celebrated band and one of 
its drummers. They are both skeptics as to spirit phenom- 
ena. At the close of the seance they expressed no opinion 
as to the genuineness of the manifestations; but they both 
admitted to me that the drumming was that of an expert, 
and was such that the execution of it, especially of the 
"close roll" by one hand was a physical impossiblity. I 
am sorry to add that they both declined to sign a certifi- 
cate to that effect, "not wishing to be mixed up in any 
controversy on the subject." 

Telegraphing. At the seance of April 8, 1886, certain 
sounds were heard, made apparently on the little table. A 



lady in the circle recognized them as a telegraphic call. 
Names and a message or two, recognized and understood 
iby members of the circle, were then ticked out and in- 
terpreted to us by the lady. A gentleman who had brought 
her to the seance informed me after it was over that she 
was a telegraphic operator from Chicago and a stranger in 
the city, had never seen the medium before, and did not 
know what she was to witness until she had taken her seat 
in the circle. 

At the seance of December 12, 1887, there was a 
telegraphic operator present who was then a stranger to 
me, but whom I now know as Mr. Charles O. Pierson, 
telegraphic operator of the War Department. Hearing 
telegraphic signals behind the screen, he responded to 
them by rapping on a round of his chair. Karnes un- 
known to the medium, and purporting to be of spirit friends, 
were ticked out and interpreted by the operator, all of 
which were recognized by some of those present. One of 
them was my pet name for my departed daughter, un- 
known most assuredly, to the medium, and so peculiar that 
the operator thought " there must be some mistake." I 
give below his statement of telegraphic experiences through 
Keeler: 

Washington, D. C, March 16, 1888. 
My Dear General: 

In compliance with your verbal request I take great pleasure in re 
lating my telegraphic experiences through the mediumship of Mr. 
Pierre L. O. A. Keeler. 

On the 25th day of last November I attended, for the first time, one 
of Mr. Keeler's public seances. At this seance there was but one per- 
son (Mr. Henry Steinberg) present with whom I was at all acquainted, 
and to him I had never been introduced. 

Nothing of a personal character occurred at this seance; and at its 
close I made an engagement with Mr. Keeler for a sitting for indepen- 
dent slate-writing on the following day, Saturday, November 26, 1887. 

Promptly at 11 o'clock on the morning of the above date 1 entered 
Mr. Keeler's rooms, 416 Twelfth street, N. TV. It is not necessary for 
me to enter into a detailed description of this private stance. It would 
take a ream of paper to do it justice. Suffice it to say that I was in- 
vited by the medium into a well-lighted room; that we seated ourselves 
at a wide table, on opposite sides; that two perfectly clean slates were 
placed before me for examination; that a small piece of slate pencil, 
about the size of two or three pin heads, was placed between the slates; 



38 

that I tied them securely together with a large handkerchief and laid! 
them on the table; that I then wrote the usual number of messages to» 
friends I wished to hear from, and then lay back in my chair awaiting 
developments, with my gaze fixed upon the two> slates that were ©n my 
side of the table. The conditions were very bad — too negative — and it 
was with the utmost difficulty that we were able to do anything. Fi- 
nally after a wait of nearly an hour we succeeded in getting two com- 
munications, and just as I was about to open the slates Mr. Keeler, in 
a very eager manner, grasped the slates again and exclaimed: "There's 
more; there's more!" Directly thereafter the pencil began to move,, 
and intuitively I felt that they were writing a message in the Morse 
characters. I so informed Mr. Keeler, but he expressed a great doubt 
as to the truth of my surmises, mentioning, by way of argument, that 
telegraph characters and messages had to be ground out of a machine 
upon paper; and he showed at once by his conversation that he was not 
versed in the operations of my art. After a few remarks of the above 
tenor I asked the spirit if I was correct, and instantly the little piece of 
pencil clicked out in the Morse characters " Yes." 

I then asked: " Is it some one I know ? " And again came the tele- 
graphic " Yes." 

" Where did you work ? " was my next query. 

" Ya, ya, ya," came with the *ntmost distinctness. 

" What did you sign ? " I asked. 

To which came the telegraphic character " S." 

" On what line did you work? " 

Clearly, slowlv, and with the utmost distinctness came the letters 
'ER-I-E" 

"Is it Jack Samson? " I asked. 

And if you could have heard the " Yes " that fairly jumped from be- 
tween the slates, methinks you would have been in much the same 
condition of mind in which this experience threw me, utterly bewil- 
dered with the vastness of the field of thought that had been opened 
up to me. 

After bidding him good-bye I opened the slates, and at the bottom 
of one of them I found the following message, written in the Morse 
telegraph characters: 

«. . 1 . . | .. .. | .-. . -- 

• • • I .- .. I .- — I - .. I 



Which, being interpreted,, is- "■ Well, well, old fellow, my 73 (com^ 
pliments) to you. 
G. B. (good bye). 

Jack, 

of'Ya.'"- 



39 



This message, bear in mind, was written before I had the telegraphic 
conversation with him. He wrote the message and then proceeded to 
identify himself. Comment is unnecessary. 

I will now cover the above by facts pertaining to my earlier tele- 
graphic experience. 

In the year 1872 I worked upon the telegraph lines of the Erie rail- 
road at Paterson, N. J. The telegraphic call for the general offices of 
the " Erie," in New York city, corner Twenty-third street and Eighth 
avenue, known as the Grand Opera House was " YA " At that time 
there worked therein and thereon a gentleman b} r the name of Samson T 
who, I think, signed S." Memory fails me upon this point; neither 
does it signify, as he identified himself fully without this. " Jack," a® 
we all called him, lived in Paterson, and he and I were very friendly 
in those days. I left the Erie the latter part of 1872, and met Jack but 
once after that year. That was in 1878, and then but for a few mo- 
ments' conversation. He " passed over " some two or three years ago T 
I believe. 

In this particular case the " mind-reader " theory will not work, as 
Samson was the last person in the w r orld I would have thought of on 
that occasion. My mind was too busy with the thoughts of loved ones 
gone beyond to waste the firecious opportunit}^. 

After this experience I attended Mr. Keeler's public seances fre- 
quently, and whenever 1 did so the spirit purporting to be my friend 
Samson would come, and by placing a long lend pencil over the bridge 
of the guitar, tick out messages to the different members of the circle. 
(Seybert Commission will please " make a note on this," and if they 
will call any telegrapher — I care not who he may be — they will find 
from his testimony that this requires T-W-O- (2) hands.) 

Upon one occasion this experiment was duplicated at the house of a 
friend of mine in this city (Mr. Armat Stoddart, 503 H street N. W.) 
where Mr. Keeler was invited to appear before a great many so-called 
skeptics and produce his wonderful physical manifestations, and amid 
surroundings unfamiliar he gave a most marvelous exhibition of his 
powers. 

December 16th, 1887, I placed an ordinary telegraph key upon the 
little table which Mr. Keeler uses behind the curtain at his public 
seances, and during the evening my friend came, adjusted the key to 
his " fist," as the telegraphers term it," and used it to perfection. 

Upon this occasion there was present by appointment an operator 
friend of mine by the name of James M. Dougherty, whose address is 
care of Appleton's Cyclopedia agency in this city; and one of the 
amusing features of the evening was the announcement made to Mr. 
Dougherty by my spirit friend that if he (Dougherty) would wait a mo- 
ment he (Samson) wouid bring another " ham " (the term used in the 
telegraph business to cover a non-expert) to talk to us. After two or three 
minutes had elapsed the key began to work in a labored fashion, and 
with great difficulty was spelled out the message " I am here." 

Upon being asked who he was, he replied: " Hinckle," or "Hinck- 
ley," I forget which. When asked where he worked, he replied: "In 
N Y. (New York), on the G. and S. X (Gold and Stock Exchan-e)." 

There was just as much difference to an experienced ear between 
the handling of the key by my friend Samson and Hinckle, or Hinck- 
ley, as there is between the chirography of individuals. 



40 

Another incident of this evening will bear recital. The day previous 
to the evening in question I met for the first time an old-time tele- 
grapher by the name of Ashurst, formerly from New York city, who 
was employed as a clerk in the Navy Department. I mentioned this 
meeting to " Jack," and asked him if he knew him. He hesitated 
somewhat, and finally said: "Not personally. Wasn't he connected 
with the A. D. T. Co. (American District Telegraph Company) in N. Y. 
(New York) ? " Not knowing this, I replied that I was unable to say. 
The next day Ashurst came into my office, and during our conversa- 
tion I inquired whether he was ever connected with the A. D. T. in N. 
Y. His reply was: "No; but my brother was superintendent of that 
company in New York city." 

I now come down to the evening of February 20, 1888, and the most 
remarkable experiences in connection with Mr. Keeler's public seance 
of that date. 

On the above-mentioned occasion my friend Samson came as usual 
and announced telegraphically the presence of friends of the different 
members of the circle. Suddenly the key was grasped by another in- 
fluence, and in a rapid manner was repeated the telegraphic call 
" U. S." • 

I asked if it was not intended for Sanduskv, and the repiy came 
" Yes." 

" Who is it ? " I asked. 

" Heaton, Heaton," came the reply. 

I did not, nor do I now, remember him, but the call " U. S." I recog- 
nized as the call for Upper Sandusky, Ohio, a station on the Pittsburg, 
Fort Wayne and Chieago K Ii., on which line I worked years ago, and it 
is more than likely I was acquainted with the spirit, when in this body. 

Once more there was a pause, and then very slowly was telegraphed 
the announcement of the presence of Sarah Bassler. Just as the last 
name was spelled out, a gentleman who was sitting immediately iD 
front of me announced to the circle that his name had just been tele- 
graphed, and thus for the first time did I know there was another per- 
son in the room who was acquainted with my art. 

At this juncture I asked the spirit who was at the key, and the reply 
came: " H." 

I asked if it was Heaton. " No," came the reply; " I am Horace 
Bassler." 

At this point the gentleman before mentioned stated to the circle 
that the spirit was that of his son; that he was an operator when in 
earth life; that he worked in Tower City, Pa ; that he signed " H." 
when employed as an operator, and that he passed over from California 
in the year 1879. The gentleman then announced himself as a stranger 
in this city, and that his name was J. II Bassler; residence, Myerstown, 
Pennsylvania. 

Hoping that this may fill the measure of your expectations, knowing 
as you certainly do my inability to do justice to the matter in hand, 
and trusting that my feeble effort to make a truthful record of a series 
of experiences may carry conviction to some poor, famished soul, I am, 
dear General, 

Yours fraternally, CHAS. O. PIERSON, 

Telegraph Office, War Dept. 

To Gp:n. F. J. Lippitt, 
1827 Jefferson Place, City. 



41 

Passing of Material Objects Through the Screen. 

I come now to manifestations in apparently direct con- 
flict with the axiom of physics, that " two bodies cannot 
occupy the same space at the same time; " this property of 
matter being known as Impenetrability, an essential attri- 
bute of it, without which its existence is inconceivable — 
I mean the passage of different objects through the screen 
of cambric cloth, shown on a thorough exnmination both 
before and after the seance, to be perfectly entire, having 
in it not the smallest aperture or rent. 

I have rarely, if ever, attended a "light" seance of 
Keeler's where this kind of manifestation did not occur. 
The most common instance of it is what I have already 
adverted to, the thrusting of a hand or arm through the 
screen, the hand writing on a tablet held by some member 
of the circle. Among the objects I have seen passed 
through, are a bell, a watch, rings from the fingers of a 
lady seated at B, a sleeve button from a sitter at C, a pal- 
metto fan, slips of paper containing written messages, and 
pocket handkerchiefs snatched from the pocket of sitters at 
B and C, or else from some member of the circle standing: 
within reach of the mysterious arm. 

That this passage really takes place is as certain as any 
fact can be. The object, a pocket handkerchief for in- 
stance, is sometimes seized by a hand coming up back of 
the screen, visibly carried over the top of it, and afterwards 
visibly emerging from under the flap in front. At other 
times the object is visibly drawn through under the flap in 
front, and afterwards handed over to some one from behind 
the screen. 

Your explanation of this manifestation is a very simple 
one. You assert (p. 86,) that Keeler's hand opens a free 
passage to the rear of the screen by raising it from the 
floor. 

This explanation is not admissible. 

In the first place it assumes that the medium has got 
his arm free, unbeknown to the sitter at B. As I have 
before stated, during about seven years I have been attend- 



± 9, 



ing Keeler's " light " seances, I have never known of an 
instance where the sitter at B has been able to detect the 
removal of the medium's hand from the arm. I now add 
that I have never heard of such a detection having been 
made at any time whatever. Now, considering that in the 
thousands of " light " seances Keeler has given, the sitter 
at B must have been, hundreds of times, a skeptic, and 
sometimes probably, a " fraud hunter," it is simply in- 
credible that such removal should never once have been 
detected. 

But secondly, the explanation is insufficient as not cover- 
ing all the facts. The phenomenon in question is the pass- 
age of a material object through matter. Now the taking* 
off of the medium's vest without removing his coat, live 
cases of which I have already mentioned, is certainly as 
stupendous an instance of this particular phenomenon as 
the passing of small objects through a cambric curtain; 
and of this the supposed raising of the screen furnishes- 
not the shadow of an explanation. 

But as to your theory of a raising of. the screen, the 
facts are all against it. Keeler often invites members of 
the circle, and preferably, strangers and skeptics, to stand 
as close as possible to the screen, and instantly, on any 
manifestation taking place behind it, to look over and see 
what they can. If agreeably to your theory for the mani- 
festations behind the screen it is necessary for Keeler to 
raise it, it is impossible to believe that he would invite or 
perm'.t such looking over. Generally, the manifestation 
ceases the moment the spectator looks over, but sometimes 
the rappings or movements of objects do not cease, and if 
the screen were then raised it could not escape being ob- 
served. Yet never has the spectator, believer or skeptic, 
reported such a fact, so decisive of fraud. The only instance 
I remember of an arm or hand being seen on these occa- 
sions (except as before related), was at the seance of No- 
vember 16. 1887, when a skeptical lady was permitted, at 
her request, to stand by the screen and look over while the 
writings were being done. She reported that she saw very 
distinctly near the table a ferns. 1 e hand with long tapering 



43 

finger?, but attached to no arm, and saw nothing e looc. .. eC?e- _ 
The reading of your Report first called my attention to* 
this matter of a supposed raising of the screen, and at the 
seance of January 23, 1888, " George Christy'' enabled me 
to set the question at rest in the following manner: 

All the usual manifestations had been taking place when 
I was called up as if to receive a writing from the hand 
thrust through the screen. I stood on Keeler's left, close 
to the A end of the screen. Suddenly my right leg was 
seized and pinched by a large and powerful hand behind, 
it. Its grasp was so firm that I could not have extricated 
myself from it even had I wished to. I asked if I could 
step behind the screen. The answer being three raps, [ 
did so, and remained there several minutes. The first 
thing I did was to examine the screen, which I found to- 
be hansfincp all the way down to the floor. While standing 



o 



way 



there I repeatedly passed my hand over it, along the back 
of the medium and of the sitter at B. I asked for some 
manifestation to take place while I should be standing- 
there, and instantly the table in the corner was shaken, 
then tilted against the wall, and then violently thrown 
down. During these manifestations there was no cause 
of them visible; and though my leg was repeatedly grasped 
by the same powerful hand, the screen, on which I con- 
stantly kept my eye, was never once raised from the floor 
even the fraction of an inch. The height of the screen 
from the floor was only 53 inches (Rep. p. 86), and the 
light from the gas burner, though somewhat dimmed, was> 
amply sufficient to make every object behind the screen 
distinctly visible. 

At the seance of April 23, 1888, 1 looked over the screen 
and saw the table and tambourine moving about; but no- 
hand was visible, and the screen was all the while touching 
the floor. 

You speak of the trembling motion of the hand that 
appeared above the screen (p. 85), preventing its being 
clearly observed. This quivering motion is sometimes so- 
rapid as to render the fingers indistinguishable; leaving but a, 
blurred impression on the eye.. At the seance of March 19 r 



44 

'1888, Mr, Haddaway, wlio had received a writing from the 
Jhand, declared that it seemed nearly translucent, or 
■*" ethereal". How could a mortal hand be made to present 
such an appearance? Does it not rather suggest a rapid 
;and continual integration and disintegration resulting from 
an unstable equilibrium of the mysterious chemical ele- 
ments employed: 

I will conclude this account of physical phenomena oc- 
curring through Keeler by a brief statement of what 
happened at some of the last seances I have attended. 

At the seance of April 16, 1888, while the medium was 
sitting with his coat on, his vest was suddenly taken off 
:and handed over the screen, buttoned up to the top. The 
sitter at B was positive that the medium's two hands were 
all the time grasping his arm; and when the curtain was 
drawn aside, the medium was seen with his coat on, but 
without a vest. 

Twice afterwards during the seance his coat was in- 
stantly taken off him and handed over the screen. 

A hand appeared over the sitter at C in such a position 
:as to show that the arm to which it belonged was extended 
from a point near the C end of the screen. 

While a hand appeared over B, the guitar was being 
thrummed on the lap of Mr. Hall, who was then sitting at 
the A end of the screen. The guitar was then pushed out 
and placed on the lap of a lady at the distance of four or 
five feet from the medium, where it was thrummed on. 

Mr. Hall was caught by the leg and held at the A end 
of the screen, while a hand was thrust through the screen 
between B and C, and another one between A and B. 

I was called up to the screen. While I stood there, 
three hands appeared over it at once; one between A and 
B, another between B and C, and the third near the C end 
-of the screen, I made many attempts to seize one of 
them; but they kept rapidly disappearing and reappearing 
at unexpected points, evidently playing a merry game of 
hide and seek, so that my efforts were vain. One of them 
was apparently the hand of quite a young girl; it was 
vsmall, the fingers were quite short, and on one of them 



45 



was a gold ring. (Knowing that a lady who often attends 
these seances had lost a granddaughter about fourteen 
years of age some three years before, I mentioned this fact 
to her at a subsequent seance and learned from her that 
her granddaughter's hands were rather short, with short 
fingers, and that she wore on one of them a gold ring, 
which was buried with her.) 

Afterwards, standing at the A end of the screen, I felt 
my leg repeatedly pulled by the large hand I have already 
mentioned. I then went behind the screen, having ob- 
tained permission to do so by three raps. I stood there 
several minutes directly behind Keeler, continually watch- 
ing the bottom of the screen, and passing my hand along 
the back of Keeler and of the sitter at B. While standing 
there I saw' the table, the guitar, and the tambourine 
knocked about, and my leg was repeatedly pinched; but at 
no time was the screen raised a single inch from the floor. 

At the seance of April 30, 1888, the medium's coat was 
taken off; notes, and then a pocket handkerchief were 
thrust through the screen; several members of the circle 
looked over the screen while raps were being made behind 
it, but saw nothing; and telegraphic communications were 
given, interpreted by a stranger present, who turned out 
to be a telegraphic operator. Moreover the guitar appeared 
and was thrummed on at some distance to the right of C, 
and afterwards to the left of Keeler near the A end of the 
screen, and then pushed upon the lap of a lady present 
seated at about three feet from him; and during all this a 
visible hand was patting the head of the sitter at B. 

I took my seat at the A end of the screen. A large 
hand, in part visible, emerged from it, seized my hand and 
continued to hold it while another hand appeared patting 
the head of the sitter at B, and another one, thrust out 
between A and B, wrote on a tablet, and still another hand 
did the same between A and B. 

Mrs. Levy was then called up to the screen. While she 
stood there, and while my own hand was still in the grasp of 
the large hand at the A end of the screen,- three, and then 
four different hands showed themselves between A and C; 



rmaking in all five -different hands visible at one and the 
.same time. One of these was evidently a young girl's 
lhand, which Mrs. Levy stated to correspond perfectly with 
the hand of the granddaughter she had lost. 

At the seance of May 21, 1888, while I stood at the A 
end of the curtain, three hands appeared at once; one of 
them quite small and delicate. Then two hands, both right 
hands, were repeatedly thrust through the screen at once, 
and shaken by several of the sitters. Then three hands 
appeared again, one of them a left hand. While hands 
were appearing over the screen, patting the sitters at B and 
tC, my pants were being pulled and held, and I received a 
slap on the back from another hand that emerged from the 
screen. A writing by G. C. on a paper I was holding said 
-"Come over "; and I went behind the screen, where 1 stood 
for some time, looking sharply at every thing about me 
and passing my hand over Keeler's back. While I stood 
there, the table was tilted, raps were heard, and the guitar 
. dragged over the floor up to my feet and thrummed on ; 
but no visible agency was perceptible. At the same time 
•(and this was the most extraordinary fact of all) hands 
thrust through the screen in front were seen writing mess- 
ages on tablets, while no trace of an arm or hand were 
visible behind the screen. During the whole time, the 
^screen remained undisturbed and touching the floor. 



LETTEE III. 

Direct Spirit Writings. 

Plus di cinq cents personnes ont pu constater le phenomene etonnant 
<de l'ecriture directe des genies invisibles, fournissant elles-mSmes leur 
papier. (Realite des Bsprits, par le Baron L. Be Quldenstuboc.) 

Plus negabit unus asinus in una hora quam centum philosophi 
probaverint in centum annis. (Br. Johnson to the Oxford Professor.) 

Gentlemen of the Seybert Commission: 

• At the Keeler seance you received and read various 
writings addressed to your members purporting to have 
been executed by spirit hands. As you have not vouch- 
safed to give one word of information about them, the 
public is left in the dark in regard to the very class of 
manifestations reported by you which, to the majority of 
persons, furnishes the most satisfactory evidence of spirit 
return. 

I shall therefore devote this letter to a statement of 
facts of such a nature as to prove that the writings pro- 
duced through the mediumsnip of Pierre L. O. A. Keeler 
really emanate from the spirit world. To those who may 
fail to be convinced by the evidence I am about to set 
forth, my only reply will be (unless, indeed, they deny in 
toto . the truth of my statements) the second of the two 
mottoes that head this letter. 

The writings at these " light " seances are of two kinds. 
Most of them purport to come from " George Christy,' ' 
and are signed " G. C." Some of them are visibly executed 
by a hand thrust through the screen; others come from 
behind it. The handwriting in all of them is the same; 
very coarse, and so hurriedly written as to be sometimes 
illegible. 

When paper for writing is called for, two or three paper 
tablets, with pencils, are passed over the screen to hands 
that receive them. And then for an hour or more there 
is a constant succession of writings thrown or handed over, 
and sometimes passed through the screen under the nap. 
(47) 



48 < 

Some of them are signed " G. C; " but the greater part 
bear the names of departed friends of members of the 
circle. 

1. As to George Christy's writings that are visibly, ex- 
ecuted by the hand in front, some of them could not pos- 
sibly be executed by Keeler, even were his arm free; be- 
cause the forearm where the hand is writing is always 
seen at a right angle with the screen; so that when the 
writing is between B and 0, as it often is, the crook of 
the writer's elbow must be where Keeler's elbow could not 
possibly be; experiment showing, as before stated, that his 
elbow crooks near the left shoulder of the sitter at B. 

2. The writings behind the screen are occasionally ex- 
ecuted on the shoulder or neck of the sitter at B or at 0, 
as I can state from personal experience. Most of them,, 
however, are apparently done on the table, which, as we 
have already seen, is beyond Keeler's reach. But even 
were it not, if you bear in mind that he is facing steadily 
to the front, and would be thus writing: with his hand 
behind him; that the writing is often extremely delicate,, 
and sometimes so fine as to be almost illegible without a 
microscope; that the lines are usually as regular as if they 
had been ruled; and finally, that both the handwriting 
and the literary style in these writings are nearly as vari- 
ous as the writings themselves; the absurdity of supposing 
them to be written by Keeler becomes apparent. 

Again, were it possible that these writings behind the 
screen are done by Keeler, the handwriting of those writ- 
ten in front would necessarily be very much better than 
in those executed by his hand behind him. Now the exact 
contrary is the fact. As before stated, the handwriting 
in those executed in front, in what would be Keeler's 
natural position, are always coarse and sometimes illegible. 



49 



3. I give below a fac-simile of a note received from 
Keeler February 14, 1888, in order that his handwriting 
may be compared with that of the specimens I shall pres- 
ently give of writings received from behind the screen. 







^4 ^ f , r 



* 





Fac-simile of a note received from P. L. O. A. Keeler. 

4. The written messages are occasionally in German, and 
sometimes in French, or partly in French; and I remember 
a seance in which a message came in Italian, and which 
was translated by a lady present who knew the language. 



50 

If Keeler is ignorant of these languages those messages 
could not have been written by him. He assures me that 
he has no knowledge whatever of either of these languages 
beyond a few isolated words of French and of German that 
he has caught from having heard the messages read; and 
that of Italian he knows nothing whatever. I have not 
the slightest reason for doubting his statement, and I 
have known him for about seven years. 

At the seance of May 7, 1888, a lady present received a 
communication in French from her father, who, she in- 
forms me, w T as of French descent. At my request she has 
kindly lent it to me for publication. A fac-simile of it 
will be found below. I asked the lady for a written state- 
ment in regard to it, and the following is her note in re- 
ply. For sufficient reasons she desires her name to be 
withheld; but I am authorized to give her name and ad- 
dress to any person who may wish to communicate with 
her, but not for publication. 



Washington, D. C, June 4, 1888. 
Gen'l Francis J. Lippitt, 

1827 Jefferson Place, Washington, D. C. 

Dear Sir: In reference to the "communication in French " which I 
received at one of Mr. Keeler's " light seances," I desire to say that it 
had my father's name signed to it, and the name spelled as his friends 
(save those who were acquainted with the French language, and they 
will quickly comprehend how incorrectly spelled) always spelled it. 
But the test to me lies in the fact that he calls me by my"" pet " name! 
I am sure that Mr. Keeler did not know this, for my most intimate 
friends in this city had never heard this name. 



51 



My father was in Confederate service, was killed at the battle of 
Drury Bluff on the 16th of May, 1864, when I wa*s but a " tot," and yet 
he comes to me after a silence of 24 years, and addresses me as he did 
in " lang syne." 

Yours for the truth, 

(Mrs.) . 




On examining the above message it will be seen that, 
excepting the strange grammatical and orthographical 
errors in the last four words, it is written in perfectly 
good French. I can conceive of a satisfactory explanation 
of these errors, but shall not stop to state it, because they 



52 

are entirely immaterial to my present object, which is to 
show that the communication, nearly all of which is in- 
correct French, could not have been written by Keeler. 

At the seance of November 16, 1887, a message in 
German was handed over the screen, and translated to the 
circle by Mr. Henry Steinberg, who assures me that he 
never knew Spies, and that he had not been thinking of 
him. Here is a fac-simile of it: 







Fac-simile of -a writing received at the seance of Nov. 16, 1887, five 
days after the execution of August Spies at Chicago. 



5. At a seance in November or early in December y 
1887 (I neglected to record in my notes what I am about 
to relate), a communication in telegraphic characters -was 
handed over from behind the screen, which no one present 
could read except Mr, Charles O. Plerson, the telegraphic 




53 



operator, whose name I have already mentioned. Here is 
a fac-simile of it: 



I 



- $ 



£ ! 



r, 






I 

1 



s I sc ! 






j a 

^Endorsed on the writing is the following: 

Wash's, D. C , May 25, '88. 
I certify that this message was passed over the curtain at Mr. Keeler's 
light seance to me. Date not remembered. 

CHAS. O. PIERSON. 

Mr. Pierson has furnished me with the following inter- 
pretation of it: 

"Hello, Charlie; I have survived the ordeal of death. 
Jack Samson." 



54 

As Keeler has no knowledge of telegraphic characters, 
the above message could not have been written by him. 

6. The messages often constitute by themselves conclu- 
sive proof that they do not emanate from Keeler. I have 
scarcely ever attended a " light " seance of his in which 
the signatures, or the contents, or both, of some of them 
were not recognized by parties present who were absolutely 
certain that Keeler could have had no knowledge of them. 
You will therefore not think it strange that some of the 
hundreds who know this fact should attribute your de- 
liberate and unexplained suppression of those' 4 notes" you 
received at the Keeler seance, to a fear that they might 
refute your theory of fraud. 

Of such recognitions I will now give some instances. 

At the seance of December 27, 1886, one of the mes- 
sages was signed " Francis Leonard Lippitt. This was the 
name of my infant son who died in Brussels, Belgium, in 
1854. It referred to something- known to no mortal but 
myself and a friend in California. 

The following is a fac-simile of a writing received by me 
at the seance of May 26, 1888. The handwriting in the 
body of it is strikingly like that of the person whose name 
is signed to it, and who died in 1859. 




*£^ ~^< ^t *-* p~- ^__ ytcJU. s 

Fac-simile of writing received May 26, 1888* 



55 



At the seance of March 19, 1886, a message came to me 
signed •*' Lucy Ann Lippitt," the name of an aunt who died 
in Providence, R. I., in 1866, and of whom I am positive 
Keeler had never heard. 

At the same seance a gentleman sat by me, evidently a 
stranger, and, as I judged from a question he asked me, 
a doubter, if not a disbeliever. A writing came to him 
signed by the full name of an uncle, afterwards one in a 
female hand signed by a very unusual Christian name 
which was that of his mother, and the handwriting of 
which, he told me, he recognized as her own; and finally 
one signed by a most peculiar Christian name, which he 
told me, was the pet name of a brother who had died in 
1858, aged three years. He assured me that neither the me- 
dium nor any one present had ever heard these names. 

At the seance of March 22, 1886, a writing came to me 
signed " Nellie Morris," a friend of my departed daughter 
in the spirit world, of whose existence and identity I had 
before obtained conclusive proof, but of whom, I am posi- 
tive, Keeler had never heard. 

At the same seance I received a message addressed to 
her father from a young lady friend who had departed this 
life about two months before. Its language was beautiful 
and touching, and it was signed by her name in full. The 
signature was strikingly like her own, including a peculiar 
spelling of her first name, and a peculiar formation of its 
first letter. 



56 

At the seance of January 13, 1888, one of the writings 
thrown over was identified by Mr. Theodore J. Mayer, 
then present, as coming from his spirit wife. (See his 
certificate ante.) Below is a fac-simile of it: 






^ yCo f^tJU^d^ *sfa*^6 /*+<rr£r>v oZZZk,, 

^ "^z* ^^ ~~-~^ "^ ^ 



Fac-simile of message received Jan. 13, 1888. 



At the seance of March 25, 1886, I received a writing 
signed by the name of an uncle of mine, an Episcopal 
clergyman, who died in Virginia in 1867. I have no 
reason to believe that Keeler had ever heard of him. 
Since then I have received from him at these seances some 
forty or more messages, all in the same handwriting, 
which, however, does not resemble his handwriting on 



57 



earth. I give below a fac-simile of the one received 
April 2, 1886: 




^M 

^v^ 



58 

At the seance of April 12, 1886, the following message 
came to me: 

" Tell Elizabeth to look into this blessed truth. It will 
comfort me. Sarah Lander." 

Miss Elizabeth Lander is a connection of my present 
wife through her first husband ; and at the time this writ- 
ing was received was on a visit in Washington. Her 
sister, Sarah Lander, died in Salem, Massachusetts, many 
years ago. I never saw her, and Keeler could not possi- 
bly have heard of her. 

At the seance of January 19, 1887, Mr. Alfred Eussel 
Wallace was present. A writing came to him signed 
" William Martin," which seemed to him " a most re- 
markable proof of identity." I extract his account of it 
from his well-known lecture, " If a man die, shall he live 
again?" 

The other day when I was in Washington attending some seances 
there where people receive messages on paper, I received to my great 
astonishment a message to this effect : " I am Wi'Jiam Martin ; I write 
for 'my old friend William Wallace to tell you that he will, on another 
occasion, when he can, communicate with you." I am perfectly cer- 
tain that only one other person in America knew my brother's name, or 
knew of the relation between my brother and Martin, and that was my 
brother here in California. I am perfectly certain that no person in 
the East could possibly have known either one name or the other- 
Therefore it seems to me this was a most remarkable proof of identity 

At the seance of February 14, 1887, a writing came 
from a father, addressing his daughter by her Christian 
name, referring to a private matter, and signed by his- 
name in full. The young lady was not present, but as I 
was acquainted with her I took charge of it and afterwards- 
delivered it to her. I had not known her Christian name, 
but found that it had been correctly given in the writing. 
She informed me that Keeler had no knowledge, of either 
of the names, or of what was referred to in the writing. 



59 

At the seance of June 4, 1887, a writing of which below 
is a fac-simile, came to me signed ", Robert Dale Owen. ,r 










c^ 



Fac-simile of writing from Robert Dale Owen received June 4, 1887.. 

In December, 1874, Mr. Owen was subjected to certain 
influences in Philadelphia that induced him to withdraw 
his confidence from the " Katie King " who had been 
appearing materialized through Mr. Holmes. During 
that imbroglio I had several interviews with him in which 
I maintained, what I had obtained decisive proofs of, that 
this "Katie King" was a genuine spirit, and not that 
notorious Eliza White who had been bribed to sign the^ 
lying "Confession of Katie King." This is evidently 
what the writing refers to. The affair had occurred 
seventeen years before, when Keeler was a boy. He 
assures me that, though he had heard vaguely of the Katie 
King affair, he did not remember either my name or that 
of any other person as being connected with it, and I have 
no reason to disbelieve him. 

At the seance of March 23, 1887 (at which Mr. Alfred 
Russel Wallace was present), a writing was thrown over y 
signed " Nellie Stearns." On its being read aloud no one- 
at first responded. At last a lady in the circle, evidently 



60 

=a stranger, rose and said that she had lost a niece of that 
name, and asked if the controlling spirit could state what 
she was then doing: In a few seconds this answer was 
'hrownover and read: " Perhaps she is climbing the Golden 
;Stair." The lady appeared quite startled at this, and then 
stated that Nellie's last words were " Mother, kneel down 
;and pray that I may climb the Golden Stair." In 
response to my questions after the seance she said she was 
an entire stranger to Mr. Keeler; and that neither he nor 
.any person present knew her niece's name, or could have 
lieard of the circumstance. 

At the seance of February 1, 1888, one of the sitters 
-was a stranger from Pennsylvania. A message came to 
Mm signed " Phebe Green." He informed us that Phebe 
Green was his mother's first cousin, who had died two 
years before in an interior town (which he named) in Penn- 
sylvania, and that the medium could never have heard of 
lier. 

At the seance of March 7, 1888, a lady was present who, 
as she informed me, had never before seen the medium or 
attended any spiritual seance. Nevertheless, to her ex- 
treme surprise, two messages came to her; one of them 
signed by the full name of a sister, and the other by the 
full name of a friend. 

At the seance of April 11, 1888, a gentleman present 
ireceived a message signed by the name of his late wife. 
JLe stated that she had died but eighteen days before, and 
ithat, before dying, she had promised to manifest herself 
;to him, should such a thing be possible, at the first oppor- 
tunity that presented itself; and that the medium was a 
; stranger to him, and, he felt certain, had never heard of 
Ihis wife. 

I have received the following statement from a lady of 
high social position, but whose name I am not at present 
authorized to disclose. I was present at the seance she 
mentions. The lady was then a stranger to me. I had 
never seen her before, and did not know her name. It was 
I that held the tablet with her while the writing was being 
done. It was executed with lightning rapidity, the hand 



61 

numbering each sheet on beginning it, and tearing it of£ 
and ..delivering it to me as it was finished. When the whole 
w r as completed, 1 handed the sheets to her, and she read 
them aloud to us. The narrative was very interesting, 
giving the particulars of his death on the battle field, and 
of what he saw on awaking in the other life. It was 
evidently written by a man of culture, and not by George 
Christy. In order that the statement may be clearly under- 
stood I will add that the officer whose name was signed to the 
communication was also a General in the U. S. Army, as- 
well as the General X. first alluded to. 

In the summer of 1881, a friend of mine, General X , an officer 

of the army, passed into the spirit land. He was a man of more 
than ordinary intelligence, who had investigated carefully and 
thoroughly the subject of spiritualism, and one, who, I felt sure, 
would continue the investigation on the other side. Feeling a 
great desire to meet him again, I availed myself of an opportunity 
afforded me in the following winter to attend a seance at a private 
house, with Mr. Keeler as a medium. The conditions were those- 
usually found in such circles. A black cambric curtain was sus- 
pended across a corner of the room, in front of which Mr. Keeler sat 
with any two persons of the circle who chose to assist him in form- 
ing a " battery." 

In the course of the evening I was asked if I would like to sit with 
him, and I eagerly assented. I sat at his right, with both of his 
hands clasping my left arm, while my right hand held that of the 
person on my right ; we three being the only ones in the circuit in 
front of the curtain and facing the audience. I was scarcely in 
position when I felt taps upon my back and shoulders. With my 
mind intent upon the friend of whom I have spoken, I said (mental- 
ly without moving my lips) " Is that you, General?" Immediately 
came many taps on my back and three audible knocks upon my 
chair. Again I said mentally, " General, if you are really hei^e 
knock upon my right shoulder;" and immediately a hand was 
laid upon my shoulder, and a number of taps in rapid succession 
came not only on the right shoulder, but on the left also. 

The seance ended just then, and I went away convinced that the 
spirit present was the friend of whom I was thinking at the time. 

A few days, perhaps a week afterwards, I received through the 
mail a communication from a lady in New York, who is so far from 
being a professional medium that she does not acknowledge to 
many persons that she is a medium at all. Its purport was, though 
not, perhaps, its exact language, " I am a writing medium and am 
importuned by a spirit who desires to communicate with you, to ask 
you to go to another of Mr. Keeler' s seances, where he will man- 
ifest himself by pulling the buttons of your dress." I am not cer- 
tain whether, in this letter, the name of the spirit who desired to com- 
municate- with me was mentioned; but, in a day or two thereafter', I 
received another letter, also through the mail, from .an acquaintance 
in this city (Washington), the wife of a navy officer} -whose hand also 
was sometimes controlled in the same mysterious manner, enclosing a 
communication addressed to me, and signed by a very dear friend and 
relative who was a distinguished officef of the army, and was killed 



62 

in the battle of the Wilderness in 1864. The communication 
stated, as did the previous one, that he had a great desire to meet 

:me ; and that it was he, and not General X who had manifested 

himself when I sat with Mr. Keeler : that he hoped I would give 
Jiim another opportunity, and that I would know him from his 
pulling the buttons on my dress, etc. 

In a few days I found an opportunity to meet Mr. Keeler again 
at a private house, where there was a small circle, probably not more 
than fifteen persons in ail. I was disappointed that I was not asked to 
sit with Mr. Keeler. but studiously avoided betraying any anxiety. 
Very soon a hand, a large, muscular hand, appeared from behind and 
over the curtain, and beckoned to some ore. Beginning at one end 
of the line, each one inquired, " Is it I?'' When my turn came, 
the hand showed plainly (I do not recall how) that I was wanted. 

I responded at once, and, as I approached the curtain, the hand 
reached out until it touched my face ; and then slowly passed down 
un^il it reached the buttons on my dress and pulled them ! I took 
the hand or rather the hand took mine. It was hard and strong, 
like that of a large man. Some one handed me a tablet and gave 
the hand a pencil, when it wrote at least ten pages as large or larger 
than the one on which I am now writing (about 7 inches by 4, F. 
J. L.) ; tearing each one from the tablet as it was written. I re- 
gret that I have not them by me now; but I remember very well 
that, after writing of his pleasure at having an opportunity to 
communicate >with me, he gave an account of the manner of his 
death, mentioning the place and circumstances, and that it was 
signed by his full name. 

I have been asked if the handwriting bore any resemblance to 
that of the same person in life. Taking into consideration the fact 
that it was written on a tablet held unsteadily by two persons, by 
a hand quite unsupported, one could scarcely expect that it would 
be a fac-stimile of writing under different conditions ; but upon 
examination, there are some strong characteristics which, even 
taken apart from the circumstances that led up to the interview, 
would, I think, have enabled me to recognize it as that of the per- 
son who signed it. 



7. Even were the writings all prepared beforehand, the 
facts I have been stating suffice to show that they cannot 
have emanated from Keeler. 

But, passing by the fact that the writing is perfectly 
audible to those sitting with the medium, and indeed, all 
over the room when everything is quiet, there are certain 
facts that demonstrate that the writings are not prepared 
beforehand. 

First. As I have myself repeatedly tested, the tablet 
:slips handed over the screen and then returned with the 
writings upon them, may always be identified by being 
first marked by any sitter that requests permission to do so. 

Secondly. Sometimes the writings refer to some occur- 
rence, or some special thing that the sitter has done a few 



63 



Lours only before the seance, known only to the sitter 
himself, and of which Keeler could not possibly have been 
informed; as at the seances of February 8 and May 19, 
1888; the details of which, being of a private nature, I 
will not here mention. 

Thirdly. Occasionally, though not often, writings are 
handed over from spirit friends, sometimes to explain 
what was illegible, or to correct a mistake just made in 
the reading. But, during the whole of every seance, 
George Christy is constantly passing over writings of his 
•own apropos of something that has just occurred or been 
said; thus carrying on an incessant conversation, as it were, 
ivith the circle, or with some member of it. One instance 
in illustration will suffice. 

At the seance of June 4, 1887, a lady in the circle 
whispered to her companion that " the writings were all 
in the same handwriting." I was seated by Keeler's side 
at B, but did not myself hear the whisper. In a few 
seconds came over a writing from "G. C.:" saying li They 
are not in the same handwriting " (which was true). The 
lady expressed her surprise at her whisper having been 



overheard, and the next instant came over another writin 



g 



from "G. C," as follows; " We see your thought and feel 
jour whisper." 

Finally; The number of sitters varies usually from about 
fifteen to twenty-five or more, a large proportion of whom, 
and sometimes nearly all, are usually strangers. Of those 
present a considerable number, sometimes all or nearly all, 
depending on the number of sitters, receive writings 
recognized by them as coming from some departed friend 
or acquaintance; and very rarely does there come a mes- 
sage addressed to a person not present. ]S"ow Keeler 
makes no list of the sitters that are to come, and has no 
possible means of knowing of what persons the circle will 
be composed until the commencement of the seance. 
Unless, therefore, he have the gift of prophecy, he cannot 
possibly prepare these messages beforehand. 

I have received the following statement from Mr. 
Darius Lyman, late Chief of the Navigation Division of 



64: 

the Treasury Department,, an office which lie held for 
twenty-four years: 

The manifestations of spirit agency through P. L. O. A. Keeler are 
made under such conditions as to convince any candid and studious 
investigator, that they are not due to his action nor of any confeder- 
ate. I refer particularly to the manifestations produced at what are 
called his " light'' seances, and those for writing on slates. 

I have been present probably at over a hundred of these seances, in 
which I have witnessed manifestations which to me were plainly 
physically impossible to be performed by him. I have had writing- 
produced between closed slates which w( re wrapped by myself with 
cloths or handkei chiefs, when held jointly by the medium and myself ; 
every precaution having been taken by me to have the surface of the 
slates thoroughly cleaned. I have obtained these writings with and 
without pencils, and at times in varied rtolors, when no colored cray- 
ons known to ordinary physics could bnve been used. In most in- 
stances I have noted by a " watch the time occupied in writing, and 
have received in periods varying from two to five minutes, messages- 
varying in number of the words written, from 7:3 in two minutes to 
309 in five. I have received a message and had the tune of a drum- 
beat on Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington accurately re-produced 
'by taps on the slates while the message was writing, the taps being- 
such as could not be produced by fingers or finger nails, the hands of 
the medium being visibly motionless. 

In all the seances given by Mr. Keeler, when I have been present, 
I have seen no reasonable ground to suspect fraud, many of the facts, 
being inexplicable on any hypothesis of that kind. I make these de- 
clarations freely and deliberately for the benefit only of candid inves- 
tigators of Mr. Keeler's mediumship, and not for " respectable and 
scientific" Committees who have neither the candor to see a spiritual 
phenomenon should one occur, nor the courage to attest one if they 
were to see it. 

. D. LYMAN. 

Washington, D. C, 

February 9, 1888. 

It is proper I should state that Keeler often holds seances,. 
by invitation, at private houses ; and that at these seances the 
same manifestations occur as in his public ones, held at 
his own lodgings. 

There are skeptics that may be willing to admit the truth 
of the foregoing statements, but will deem it a sufficient 
reply to them " that some of Kellar's and Hermann's tricks 
are just as mysterious and inexplicable as any of the- 
manifestations I have recorded." 

I admit the fact, but not the inference from it. Be- 
cause certain manifestations have been produced by trick,, 
it does not follow that certain other manifestations, differ- 
ing from them in kind and in the circumstances under which 



3350 



65 

they occur, can ^ake be produced. When any professional 
juggler shall produce the identical manifestations that 
occur in the presence of spirit mediums, and under pre- 
cisely the same conditions, the spirit theory of their pro- 
duction may have to be abandoned; but I have never yet 
read or heard of a single instance where this has been done. 

I have often propounded a certain question to skeptics 
who believe all these manifestations to be jugglers' tricks, 
to which I have never received an answer. 

I will repeat it here. 

If the manifestations through Keeler, admittedly as in- 
explicable as those produced by Kellar or Hermann, are 
only jugglers' tricks, why does not Keeler, like his brother 
jugglers, announce them as such, and thus draw audiences 
that will net him greater returns in a week or two than he 
now receives in a whole year? 

In view of the great number and variety, and conclusive 
nature of the facts I have presented in these letters, I 
claim it to be demonstrated 

First. That the manifestations through Pierre L. O. 
A. Keeler are not produced by trick, but by extramundane 
agencies; and that your Report is therefore grossly unjust 
both to him personally, and to the cause of truth. 

Secondly. That spirit return is a fact, and that there 
is, therefore, Another Life. 

Yours respectfully, 

Francis J. Lippitt. 



PHYSICAL PROOFS 



OF 



ANOTHER LIFE, 



GIT EN IN 



Letters to the Seybert Commission; 



BY 



FH-AJNCZIS J. LIPPITT. 



And now I say unto you, Refrain from these men, and let them alone; 
for if this counsel or this work be of men, it will come to nought; But 
if it be of God, ye cannot overthrow it; lest haply ye be found even to 
fight against God. Acts F/-38, 39. 

Celui qui, en dehors des mathematiques pures, prononce le mot 
impossible, manque de prudence. Arago: Anrmaire 1853. 






WASHINGTON, D. C: 

A. S. WITHERBEE & CO. PUBLISHERS, 

1888. 



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